By Hector Gonzalez: A few years back I recall what the pundits were saying about Jorge Linares. I remember watching the Venezuelan vs. Antonio De Marco on HBO. The HBO commentators were hyping Linares, and understandably so. Emmanuel Stewart (RIP) said that Linares was one of the best boxers he had ever seen. Linares was the heavy favorite vs De Marco, Linares boxed beautifully, amazing footwork, angles, beautiful combinations yet he had a major defect, his face was susceptible to cuts from heavy punches.
Ultimately, Linares was the superior technician in the fight, however boxing professionally in the ring is multifaceted, there are a lot of elements that come into play. The hype ended after De Marco because of one defect, with no regard to Linares’s abilities. The hype reminds me of Lomachenko.
This article is no disrespect to Lomachenko. However, I could already hear his loyal fans becoming defensive. Just keep in mind that at one time Naseem Hamed was referred to as one of the best lightweight fighters that ever lived, many were on that hype also. There is a crucial mistake many fans are making and that is that there is not yet a real measuring tool to gage Lomachenko yet. Yes, the footwork is there, the angles, etc. But keep in mind that the real gage is based on ‘who’ he’s beat, what styles has he faced, etc. If one were to look at Lomachenko’s short career from an honest point of view, based on Salido, one good have to wonder if Lomachenko is susceptible to pressure fighters. It’s an honest question.
That leads me to my last question. For many fans, Lomachenko is a ‘heavy’ favorite against the likes of Mikey Garcia. My question would be, based on what? I could already hear readers saying, Lomachenko is no Linares or he’s no Hamed. It’s about the persuasion around ‘hype’ and how fighters get ‘hyped’. What’s even more interesting is that both Linares and Hamed actually had already proven themselves with impressive fights, yet when fully tested they failed, Lomachenko clearly struggled against a worn down c level fighter. To say that Lomachenko is going to be a ‘great’ fighter, a ‘great champion’ is fair. To boldly say that he is going to blow Garcia out of the water is hyper bold, in my opinion.