As a prizefighter and someone who knows Ivan Baranchyk on a personal level, it was especially difficult for Teofimo Lopez to watch what happened to him Saturday night.
Baranchyk suffered four knockdowns against Jose Zepeda. The last of those knockdowns left Baranchyk on his back, unconscious for several seconds, before he eventually was helped to his feet and out of the ring following a brutal battle at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Russia’s Baranchyk knocked down Zepeda four times before he was knocked cold late in the fifth round of their unforgettable slugfest.
Lopez completely appreciated the memorable bravery Baranchyk and Zepeda displayed throughout their instant classic. The IBF lightweight champion was worried about Baranchyk, though, because the former IBF junior welterweight champion remained on the canvas for several minutes before he was able to get up.
Baranchyk was held overnight for observation, but he was released Sunday from University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
“Definitely ‘Fight of the Year,’ ” Lopez said Monday as part of a virtual press conference to promote his October 17 showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko. “Definitely could be easily ‘KO of the Year.’ And that’s all on ESPN, with Top Rank. That’s what we bring to the table every time. It was definitely one to watch, but also scary. You know, Baranchyk [is someone] who I actually had as my sparring partner in my last camp against Richard Commey, so I know him personally. It definitely was tough to watch, to see him not respond for several minutes.
“And I think that’s where I think that people need to understand that this is just not about, you know, two guys going in there, trying to beat each other up and for you guys. But it also lets you guys know that we do risk our lives each time we’re in that squared circle. But thankfully he’s OK. And, on top of that, you know, the fact that, you know, it was just a great fight overall. Eight knockdowns, I believe, before that knockout. And it was just – what a night! What a night! Definitely a main event fight worth watching, for sure.”
Baranchyk (20-2, 13 KOs) scored two knockdowns of Zepeda in the first round. Zepeda responded by dropping Baranchyk early in the second round, only to get knocked down again by Baranchyk about 25 seconds later.
Zepeda dropped Baranchyk once apiece in the third and fourth rounds, but Baranchyk knocked him down for the fourth time late in the fifth round. Slightly more than 20 seconds later, Zepeda (33-2, 26 KOs, 2 NC) blasted Baranchyk with a straight left that emphatically ended an unbelievable brawl full of twists and turns (https://www.boxingscene.com/zepeda-dropped-four-times-drops-baranchyk-four-times-brutal-knockout-results--152213).
Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) is winding down training camp for his fascinating fight with against Ukraine’s Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) a week from Saturday night at MGM Grand Conference Center. They’ll fight for Lomachenko’s WBA and WBO lightweight titles and Lopez’s IBF belt in a main event ESPN will televise.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
