Teofimo Lopez bests Vasiliy Lomachenko to become undisputed lightweight champion

Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez locked horns in the most hyped boxing bout of 2020. The lightweights started slow but rolled to a strong finish.

Lightweight champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez had the world buzzing on Saturday, Oct. 17. They held all of the division’s belts between them. The early going was cautious.

That’s putting it mildly. Lomachenko was asleep.

But Lomachenko did wake up from his dormant state. Unfortunately for him, it was too late.

So many questions surrounded this matchup. Could the undefeated 23-year-old IBF champion Lopez defeat the pound for pound great, or would the elder Lomachenko’s Olympic gold skills get the better of the youngster?

It turns out that youth wasn’t Lopez’s only advantage.

If the first round, Lomachenko barely let his hands go. It’s a trend that continued into the second, then the third, then the fourth rounds.

Lomachenko confused the announcers at ringside and the millions of fans watching around the world. He was allowing Lopez to bring the offense to him and did nothing in return. According to ESPN’s punch stats after the seventh round, Lopez had 38 connected punches to Lomachenko’s 11.

Then, suddenly, Lomachenko woke up in the eighth round.

Teofimo Lopez dominated the first half of the fight, but Vasiliy Lomachenko made a comeback down the stretch.

Lomachenko’s left started to find its home. He started putting some rounds together, and Lopez looked gassed in the 11th round. Lomachenko sensed he was trailing in the fight, and he tried for the knockout but didn’t get it.

Lopez found his second wind in the 12th and final round. He dedicated his attack to Lomachenko’s body, and he took the energy out of him. Lomachenko made too many mistakes in this fight. He waited too long to start fighting and focused too much on the head. Lopez finished strong.

Lomachenko’s reemergence in the second half of the fight made the scoring interesting, but Lopez looked like he deserved the win. The judges agreed, but their scores were too skewed in Lopez’s favor.

The judges awarded the fight to Lopez with scores of 116-112, 119-109, and117-111. The score of 116-112 was more on, but 119-109 was unforgivable. Regardless, Lopez earned the win and is now a superstar in the boxing world.

During the post-fight interview, Lopez discussed his mindset in the fight.

“I’ll take one to get one,” said Lopez. “That’s what a true champion does.”

He added, “You just got to keep pressing him.”

Lopez pressed Lomachenko for most of the night, and he’s the new undisputed lightweight champion of the world. The sky’s the limit for the young and exceedingly talented Lopez.