There were three basic reasons to explain Teofimo Lopez’s upset unanimous decision over Vasyl Lomachenko: the Ukrainian champion went up against a superior opponent, his defensive strategy for the first half of the bout cost him in the end, and his long layoff was very noticeable and took its toll. The result was a new, undisputed lightweight king over 12 tense rounds inside the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on October 17. After a strong start, Lopez successfully overcame a late Lomachenko rally to win by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109.
The fight was dominated early by Lopez’s boxing, the youngster taking control in the center of the ring by utilizing his educated left hand and hitting Lomachenko repeatedly with well-placed body shots that had the smaller in size Ukrainian backing up. This allowed Lopez (16-0, 12 KO) to build a big lead on the scorecards as he neutralized Lomachenko’s (14-2, 10 KO) graceful movements behind his left jab.