By Scott Gilfoid: Former 2008 featherweight Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine Vasyl Lomachenko added a second gold medal this time in the lightweight division with a decision victory over Korea’s Han Soonchul by the scores of 19-9.
That was kind of a wide decision if you ask me because apart from the 1st round, there wasn’t much action to speak of. Lomachenko landed well in the 1st round with pot shot lefts and rights, but the 2nd and 3rd rounds were mostly clinching.
In the 3rd round, Soonchul was able to land shots when he could catch up to Lomachenko but he had problems with the Ukrainian’s flurries to the body. Lomachenko was good at throwing blinding shots to the body whenever they’d get close, and the slower one punch at a time Soonchul had no answer for that kind of attack.
The speed and power of Lomachenko was the big difference in this fight. Soonchul didn’t have the speed nor could he throw combinations like Lomachenko. Soonchul needed the fight to take place on the outside for him to be effective. However, Lomachenko keep out of range for the most part, and would periodically dart forward to land some quick shots followed immediately by a clinch.
I felt that Lomachenko gave Soonchul far too much respect in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, because he didn’t throw enough punches and seemed to be treating Soonchul like he was a knockout threat. At one the referee had to tell both fighters in the 2nd round to start throwing punches because they were just looking at each other instead of mixing it up.
It’s unclear how much more Lomachenko can accomplish at the amateur level. He should have turned pro after the 2008 Olympics because he’d have been a champion by now in the pro game. He’ll have to make a lot of adjustments for him to find success at the pro level now, and I’m not sure if he’ll be able to do that.
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