By Godfrey Falcon: November 2016 has been a great month for boxing, culminating in Nicholas Walters vs. Vasyl Lomachenko last Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. With echoes of the rematch between Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran exactly 36 years ago, Jamaica’s highly esteemed former WBA Featherweight Champion, Nicholas “The Axe Man” Walters (28-1-1) gets comprehensively chopped down by Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (7-1-0) and called it quits. Cleary from the corner, we could hear Walters telling referee Tony Weeks the same words Duran said that fateful day, “No Mas. No Mas.” Officially winning by TKO after the 7th Round, Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and current WBO Jr. Lightweight Champion, effectively vindicates his proponents, and proved his nay-sayers painfully wrong.
Walters, previously an undefeated power-puncher with incredibly long reach, was best known for his destruction of former Fighter of the Year Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (37-4), a fight that shook up the boxing world. After moving up to Jr. Lightweight and still proving he had the power to make his opponents honest, the bout between he and the Ukrainian native was hyped to be a highly competitive match between the best and the best.
The best proved to be Lomachenko, and the difference between them was like night and day. Walters could never establish a solid jab despite his reach advantage of 6″ and slight edge in height. His game changing power was never utilized, as Lomachenko was too elusive of a target, and fired too often. The champion took it inside, neutralizing any leverage Walters could muster with his hooks, and putting him in an increasingly uncomfortable position.
Lomachenko flashed his fancy footwork, evidence that regardless of the talent he is up against, he can make anybody look bad. The Ukrainian was much too elusive, and when the rare punch did land to the body or side of the head, he was never bothered. Interestingly enough, rather than slow down as the fight wore on, Lomachenko picked up the pace, breaking down and severely discouraging one of the greatest and most feared fighters in the division, if not the greatest (before tonight). It was almost like Lomachenko was the bully, and Walters the poor kid who couldn’t defend himself. The hand-speed, variation and angles of punches, as well as his ability to turn his opponent are a combination of skills rarely seen in the sport.
Suffering his only defeat to rugged veteran Orlando Salido (43-13-4) back in 2014 in a questionable and dirty Split Decision loss, the uber-talented Lomachenko has since then grown even beyond the already expansive repertoire he entered the pros with, entering with an amateur background of 396-1. With flashes of the skills of Mayweather and Pacquiao, boxing fans are in for a treat at whatever his career has in store for him. Whether it’s a rematch against Salido or taking on Francisco Vargas, we can expect Hi-Tech to continue to surprise at just how good he is.
What’s next for Walters after such a crushing defeat? An argument can be made for Walters as still being a talent second only to Lomachenko in the division, and matches against Salido, Vargas, Takashi Miura, or a rematch with Donaire are on the table. He certainly has the skill, reach, and power to give anybody a hard time whose name is not Vasyl Lomachenko. Though previously an argument could’ve been made that Lomachenko had been unproven, with this spectacular win he has now unquestionably secured a spot on the Pound-For-Pound rankings, and stands without a doubt as one of the best fighters in the sport today.