Teófimo Lopez got into the discussion about the best pound-for-pound boxer today with a stunning victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko at the MGM Grand’s Bubble, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) Lightweight Super Championship, as well as the WBC, WBO and IBF versions.
The fight, that was predicted to be one of the most expected bouts of the year, was a war of strategies in which Teófimo, of American nationality and Honduran descent, obtained a unanimous decision of 116-112, 119-109 and 117-111, to snatch the three belts from the Ukrainian boxer and retain his own.
“The Takeover” did not change the strategy that has characterized him throughout his professional career and went out to attack “Loma” from the first round. Although not too effective, the 23-year-old took the initiative and threw the best blows while Lomachenko seemed to be saving himself for the final rounds.
Teófimo continued to win rounds in the middle of the fight thanks to his relentless attack on both the middle area and the head. After the eighth round, Lomachenko tried to attack but Lopez responded in a good way thanks to his physical condition and his volume of blows.
Although in the final part he suffered with Lomachenko’s jab and straight jabs, Lopez kept fighting and ended the bout with a very important victory that puts him at the top of the pound-for-pound boxers’ lists.
At only 23 years old, he achieved a valuable victory against one of the best boxers in the world. Teófimo remains undefeated in 16 fights, 12 of them won by KO, while Lomachenko now has 14 wins, 2 losses and 11 KOs.