By Aragon Garcia: Teofimo Lopez Sr says Vasily Lomachenko won’t come to fight this Saturday night against his son Teofimo Jr (15-0, 12 KOs) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Teofimo Sr, who is the dad and trainer for Lopez, believes that WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) will be attempting to win a points decision, and play it safe for 12 rounds.
That is to say, Lomachenko will treat the fight with IBF lightweight champion Teofimo
Lomachenko won’t take chances by standing in front of Teofimo for any length of time on Saturday night. Teofimo Sr says he’s ready for Lomachenko to use that game plan, and he’s already got a strategy in place for his son to use to get to the Ukrainian fighter to knock him out.
Lomachenko, 32, won’t last more than five rounds, predicts Teofimo Sr. He’s too weak, too small, and he’s got too many miles on him from his 400 amateur fights.
Although Lomahcneko is still young in terms of age, he’s older physically because of all the punishment he’s soaked up from his long amateur career in his native Ukraine.
Lomachenko won’t go past five rounds
“I don’t see this fight going past five rounds,” said Teofimo Sr. to the Ring Digital. “My son is way too strong and smart for this guy. No 126-pounder is going to beat my son.
“That’s impossible. He’s [Lomachenko] a little bit sneaky, but that’s something we’ve figured out.
“That stuff to the side, which is the only thing he does besides his movement on the outside, the double backing up, and all that stuff. Once my son gets close to him, he’s over. The fight is going to be over,” Teofimo Sr said of Loma.
The movement that Lomachenko uses on the outside is generally wasted stuff and really pointless. Lomachenko moves too much most of the time, and he doesn’t gain anything from it apart from impressing the ultra-hardcore boxing fans that like to see pointless movement from fighters.
The problem Lomachenko has is, he eventually needs to come forward, and when he does, he’ll be there to be hit. Loma lacks the reach to jab his way to a dull 12 round decision against Teofimo, and he’s not going to have the advantage in hand speed the way he normally does in his fights.
Not being able to stand in front of Teofimo to throw a storm of shots all night will have a huge effect on Lomachenko’s game. He usually beats his opponents with volume punching. If Loma attempts to do that against Teofimo, he will run into something and get dropped.
Teofimo will slap Loma’s weak shots away
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. My son is going to slap all those pitty-pat things that he throws,” Teofimo Sr. said when asked if Lomachenko can hurt Lopez with his power. ”
“He’s going to slap them out and make him feel the good punch. The good strong punches are going to land.
It might be a left hook; it might be a straight right hand, and it might be a body shot. We got to see,” said Teofimo Sr in talking about what punch his son will KO Lomachenko with.
The lack of power that Lomachenko is another flaw that he has in his game. He’s got the wrong style to be trying to fight a guy with one-punch power like the 23-year-old Teofimo possesses.
Lomachenko has probably had his dad/trainer Anatoliy drum it into his head that he can’t focus on volume punching to try and win on Saturday.
But that’s not going to be hard for Lomachenko to follow his dad’s instructions because his entire game is centered on beating his opponents by throwing a huge amount f shots.
It’s in Loma’s DAN for him to throw a billion punches each round, and he’s not going to change that habit no matter how much his dad has warned him against it.
Lomaachenko has been a volume puncher from day one as an amateur, and he owes his two gold medal wins in the Olympics from that style. In the end, Lomachenko will be resistant to change, and he’ll pay a heavy price by getting knocked out by Teofimo on Saturday.
Lomachenko will try and win a decision
“In my aspect, no,” Teofimo Sr said when asked if Lomachenko is a puzzle. “We just have to figure out how to time him, how to get in there and be able to be in front of his face all night.
“I don’t think this guy is going to come to fight,” Teofimo Sr said about Lomachenko. “I think this guy is going to come to try and win on points, and try and get my son in the later rounds.
“That’s what he thinks he can do, but we already know. Whatever he’s coming out to do that night, we already know the plan. If he wants to come in, we’re ready. If he wants to run, we’re ready,” said Teofimo Sr.
There are only a few things that Lomachenko can do to try and win against Lopez, and those things are as follows:
- Volume punching
- Hit and run style
- Potshots from the outside
Those are plans that Teofimo Sr and his son Lopez are ready for on Saturday night. Of all those strategies, the hit and run have the best chance of success for Lomachenko. He can’t stand and fight because he’s too small and weak to last long against Teofimo.
Teofimo Sr not impressed with Loma’s defense
“I don’t know where people are coming from,” said Teofimo Sr when asked if trying to hit Lomachenko will be like a baseball batter attempting to make contact with a knuckleball.
“You seen the [Jorge] Linares fight, and you seen how he looked after the [Jose] Pedraza fight. So basically this guy is on his peak and is ready to go, even though he’s very young.
“He’s 33, but he’s got a lot of wear & tear in his body. There’s no way on this earth or any other earth that that guy can beat my son. I have no doubts at all,” said Lopez Sr, ruling out a loss for Teofimo against Lomachenko.
In three out of four of Lomachenko’s fights at lightweight, he’s been hit a lot by his opponents. Lomachenko proved to be easy to hit in his contests against Jose Pedraza, Jorge Linares, and Luke Campbell.
The reason Lomachenko beat those three guys is he was able to outwork them with his volume punching.
The guys that Lomachenko has fought at 135 lacked the power to hurt him, which enabled him to play around.
Lomachenko warns Lopez
“If I can find a good way to make a good punch,” I will do it,” said Lomachenko during Wednesday’s news conference in talking about Saturday’s match against Lopez.
“At 135, we have a different reach and different size, and that’s why we have a difference in landed punches,” Lomachenko said in explaining why he’s been getting hit more in his fights in the lightweight division. “Of course, it’s harder for me to fight at 135.”
It’s an empty threat on Lomachenko’s part for him to be talking about wanting to try and hurt Lopez. On Saturday night, Lomachenko will be the hunted, not the hunter.
If Lomachenko had more power, his warning message would resonate, but he can’t punch at 135. Even at 130, Lomachenko wasn’t a big puncher. He beat many smaller, older fighters that lacked the size and power to compete with him.
Lomachenko is probably going to return to the 130-lb division after Saturdays fight with Teofimo. This fight will be the final match for the Ukrainian fighter, who will give up on the lightweight division without ever fighting Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis, or Devin Haney.
Those would be big paydays for Lomachenko if he were to stick around to face those guys, but it would be pointless to fight them if he’s coming off a knockout loss to Teofimo.
Teofimo says he has good footwork too
“We’ll touch gloves. If he doesn’t want to touch gloves, then that’s on him,” said Teofimo. “I’m going to go by the rules before we start of the fight. That’s the way I look at it.
“I’ve only been in the game for four years in the pros. So you guys haven’t been able to see all of me yet. I have footwork too. A lot of people don’t know that I’ve been a boxer and I am a boxer.
“There’s so much more than just being a strong fighter, coming forward and throwing lucky punches,” said Lopez.
What a lot of boxing fans don’t realize is that Teofimo has quicker feet than Lomachenko. One reason for that is that Teofimo’s legs are a little longer, and he has the fast-twitch muscle fibers that result in him being faster both with his hands and legs.
Fans can see how fast Teofimo’s feet are when he cuts off the ring against his opponents, and he backs up. He’s lightning fast on his feet for a stocky fighter.
One reason Teofimo doesn’t receive a lot of credit for his footwork is that he doesn’t need to use it as much because he’s always coming forward.
If Lomachenko will run around the ring on Saturday night and just look to play keep away, Teofimo will be on him.