Teofimo Lopez doesn’t consider a knockout his only path to victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Ukraine’s Lomachenko is widely viewed as the superior boxer as their 12-round, 135-pound title unification fight approaches. Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) still is confident he has the boxing ability to beat the highly skilled southpaw on points if he cannot become the first fighter to knock out Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) on October 17 in Las Vegas.
“I know that I’m gonna beat Lomachenko because I have confidence in myself,” Lopez said during a virtual press conference recently. “I’m a young fighter. I have the speed. I have the power. I have the boxing skills. And many people don’t know it, but I’m also a great boxer. I’m not only a power puncher. People seem to think that I’m only that. I’m also very smart in the ring, and people will see that on October 17th.”
The 32-year-old Lomachenko has won 67 percent of his bouts by knockout or technical knockout, but he also is 4-1 in 12-round title fights.
Two of his past three fights have gone the distance. The two-time Olympic gold medalist won both of those bouts by unanimous decision against Jose Pedraza (28-3, 13 KOs) and Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs).
Lomachenko’s lone loss came in a 12-round championship match. Mexico’s Orlando Salido (44-14-4, 31 KOs, 1 NC) beat him by split decision in that bout, which was just the second appearance of Lomachenko’s pro career 6½ years ago at Alamodome in San Antonio.
Conversely, Lopez has gone 12 rounds only once since he turned pro in November 2016.
Brooklyn’s Lopez beat Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani (18-1, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision in that May 2019 bout at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Lopez defeated Nakatani by large margins on all three scorecards (119-109, 118-110, 118-110), but he drew some criticism for his performance that night.
Only two of Lopez’s 15 professional fights have lasted beyond the sixth round. He won his only title bout by second-round knockout when he tore through Ghana’s Richard Commey (29-3, 26 KOs) to win the IBF lightweight title in his most recent fight, December 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Most Internet and Las Vegas sports books list Lomachenko as a 4-1 favorite entering a main event ESPN will televise from MGM Grand Conference Center. They’ll fight for Lomachenko’s WBA and WBO lightweight titles, his WBC franchise championship, and Lopez’s IBF belt.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
