Teofimo Lopez will lose by KO/TKO

[Goldie]

Lomachenko is already more than a footnote based on what he's achieved up to this point.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist, won a title in his 3rd fight, titles in 3 divisions.

That's more than a footnote

The amateur/Olympic career means nothing when evaluating a pro fighter.

The paper resume sht is overblown too. Getting a title shot in his 3rd fight points to corruption and favoritism.

[whollisboxing]

The bold: Some people say Mikey and Haney. I won't go there.

Career defining fight is a fight you remember whenever his name is mentioned- a fight that would last in your memory into retirement. Top opposition. Defining character of the fight includes how great or semi-great the opponent is, fan demand, delivery, etc.

I can throw many boxers' names out there (some with more than a few defining fights) and answer that question easily. Even people like Maidana have one (Ortiz). I can remember Sergio Martinez from more than a few fights. Just some examples. Loma has zero. No big fight memory if he retired today. I remember the Salido fight the most, followed by Russell.

He's fighting in weak divisions where almost all the competition is questionable (Russell was OK). Loma has had some good matchmaking, including a few corruption and bribe induced rankings by Arum, as well.

Struggles with C level fighters like Campbell and Linares (who was starched by average Cano in one round). Loss to faded journeyman Salido. Lopez (a kid with 15 fights) will be his greatest win now, at the tail end of his career, if he does win. How great is that?

The answer is NONE. He doesn't have a career defining fight. Loma is mostly hype beyond his AMATEUR record.

Ok, this is good, let's dig in:

1. I'm not sure who is to blame for a Loma-Mikey Garcia fight not happening but Mikey did leave 135 and opt for fights at 147. I will give you Haney, although every fighter has misses and unfortunately there are great matchups that don't happen. On the flip side, Loma critics would probably call Haney a "kid" whose "green" and "untested" while fans of other fighters would say he's a tremendous young champion if their guy beat him.

2. It sounds like you're equating "career-defining" with "memorable" and that's fine. I think that the streak of opponents quitting that spawned the nickname "No-Mas" chenko is memorable but to each his own.

3. As for the weak division/questionable competition, I think the Gary Russell Jr. win at 126 was legit and so was the Nicholas Walters win at 130

4. Here are the top-10 rankings at 135 (courtesy of Boxrec, which isn't everything but it'
s a point of reference)

1 ➡ Vasiliy Lomachenko
2 ➡ Teofimo Lopez*
3 ➡ Gervonta Davis*
4 ➡ Lee Selby*
5 ➡ Devin Haney
6 ➡ Richard Commey
7 ➡ Javier Fortuna
8 ➡ Luke Campbell
9 ➡ Ryan Garcia
10 ➡ Jorge Linares

If Jorge Linares and Luke Campbell are C-level then you have extremely strict criteria. Is anybody on this list any good? Teo is #2 on this list and Loma is the only one to beat two guys out of this bunch. Teo is the only one besides Loma who has a top-10 win (over Richard Commey) and none of the other guys have even faced each other yet. Also, Linares lost to Cano at 140 so I don't hold that against him. He went up too high in weight and paid for it. It happens.

5. Teo Lopez is a world champion and proved himself with an impressive victory over Richard Commey. It's a unification fight and Teo isn't just a kid with 15 fights.

That's my objective take on things and I certainly appreciate everyone's point of view.

[hhh1200]

For starters, there's no way Lopez can beat Loma on points... Lomachenko is WAY too active and point oriented in his approach.

The longer this fight goes without a knockout, the more desperate Lopez is going to get for a knockout as he will inevitably be down on points... But Lopez doesn't strike me a guy who will be content to just survive like a lot of other fighters Loma has taken to the distance... He's going to be banking on his explosiveness/speed and power throughout the fight, and constantly trying to catch Loma with something... I don't see Lopez letting off the gas at any point...

If Loma manages to really figure out Lopez as well, it's going to make Lopez that more frustrated and willing to take dangerous risks...

It will come down to the more skillful fighter (Loma) who is also very fast and strong, catching the young hungry lion as he comes in trying something reckless... Don't forget, when Lomachenko got knocked down in his last fight, he immediately changed gears and turned up his level of intensity... A a fired up Lomachenko has more tools in his arsenal than a fired up Lopez

Of course, Lopez COULD catch Lomachenko with something too... But I see the IQ of Loma prevailing here...Either way, I don't see how this fight could possibly not end in a KO

if lopez catches loma, it's going to be one of those shots where loma is trying to recover, not just jump up bc it was a flash knockdown.

[whollisboxing]

The amateur/Olympic career means nothing when evaluating a pro fighter.

The paper resume sht is overblown too. Getting a title shot in his 3rd fight points to corruption and favoritism.

Ok, let's say he got the title shot in his 3rd fight due to corruption and favoritism. I'll give you that but he still had to win the fight and he won clean.

Take a look at the top 10 at 135 on Boxrec. Loma is the only guy to beat two people on that list. Now he's facing the only other guy to beat one person on that list. The rest of them have yet to face each other. And yes, I know that guys like Garcia, Haney, and Tank are younger so of course they have time to change that. I'm just talking about where things stand right now.

We can find things to criticize about any fighter if we look hard enough, I just wanted to give an objective take.

[Cypocryphy]

Ok, let's say he got the title shot in his 3rd fight due to corruption and favoritism. I'll give you that but he still had to win the fight and he won clean.

Right. I love these arguments. None other than Loma receives more hate in the boxing world. I think second is Gennady. I'd like to see someone name another. Perhaps Alvarez is up there, too. Those are the three most hated boxers right now.

Anyway, what I want to say is who was the favored boxer here. Was it Lomachenko or was it Gary Russel? It takes two to tango. Wasn't there a belief at that time that Gary was going to dominate Lomachenko? Didn't people believe Loma was being offered up as food for Gary?

These narratives only appear after the fact. That doesn't work. It has to appear before the event because recreating a narrative with hind sight is nothing more than unreasoned hating.

Good points man. I like your reasoned posts on this topic.

And to anyone who wants to debate me about Haney, do so at your own peril. I love digging graves for fools.

[whollisboxing]

Right. I love these arguments. None other than Loma receives more hate in the boxing world. I think second is Gennady. I'd like to see someone name another. Perhaps Alvarez is up there, too. Those are the three most hated boxers right now.

Anyway, what I want to say is who was the favored boxer here. Was it Lomachenko or was it Gary Russel? It takes two to tango. Wasn't there a belief at that time that Gary was going to dominate Lomachenko? Didn't people believe Loma was being offered up as food for Gary?

These narratives only appear after the fact. That doesn't work. It has to appear before the event because recreating a narrative with hind sight is nothing more than unreasoned hating.

Good points man. I like your reasoned posts on this topic.

And to anyone who wants to debate me about Haney, do so at your own peril. I love digging graves for fools.

Thanks I appreciate that and I do my best to give objective takes. As for the Russell fight, it was seen as extremely risky at the time because Loma was coming off a loss in his 2nd fight. A loss to Gary Russell Jr. makes him 1-2 so there was lots of pressure to avoid going from highly touted Olympic legend to hype job with a losing record.

By the way I have a podcast and a YouTube channel if you're interested. Links are below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfNFR4lOLpwTCDhRsFb8kw

https://anchor.fm/whollisboxing

[Cypocryphy]

Thanks I appreciate that and I do my best to give objective takes. As for the Russell fight, it was seen as extremely risky at the time because Loma was coming off a loss in his 2nd fight. A loss to Gary Russell Jr. makes him 1-2 so there was lots of pressure to avoid going from highly touted Olympic legend to hype job with a losing record.

By the way I have a podcast and a YouTube channel if you're interested. Links are below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfNFR4lOLpwTCDhRsFb8kw

https://anchor.fm/whollisboxing

Ha! Awesome, man. I subscribed.

And yes, there were those dissuading Loma from taking that fight after Solido. The hype job narrative had/has been floating around since he entered the pros. That's for sure.

[whollisboxing]

Ha! Awesome, man. I subscribed.

And yes, there were those dissuading Loma from taking that fight after Solido. The hype job narrative had/has been floating around since he entered the pros. That's for sure.

Thanks a lot and that's much appreciated

[el_mas_chingon]

You mean... like the greatest fighters of all time?

Nah don’t think those greats would’ve lost their 2nd pro fight to a journeyman!

[STREET CLEANER]

Lopez is naturally bigger, younger and explosive. He has a hell of a chance to win. Loma has a lot of talent but a good bigger guy can overcome a lot of that.