By Barry Holbrook: Bob Arum doesn’t approve of the recent comments made by Vasily Lomachenko last week to explain why he lost to Teofimo Lopez in their fight on October 17th.
Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) feels that some of the judges had a bias when scoring their fight, which he lost by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores: 116-112, 119-109, and 117-111.
Although the boxing public felt that the Lomachenko – Teofimo fight should have been a lot closer than the scores handed down by the three judges, they believe the right man won.
Teofimo, 23, built up an insurmountable lead in the first seven rounds, mainly due to Lomachenko failing to throw punches.
When Lomachenko did come storming back in the last rounds, he failed to finish strong in the 12th. Even if the judges had scored the fight the way it played out, Lomahenko likely would have still lost eight rounds to four.
Arum: Lomachenko’s comments are “stupid”
“I have to see what Loma wants to do next year,” said Arum to IFL TV. “They’re as stupid as the comments [former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay] Wilder made about how he lost to Tyson Fury about how somehow Fury loaded his gloves, and his own corner put stuff in his water.
“It’s ridiculous…With Lomachenko, [judge] Julie Lederman is a very honest person, she was off in that fight [with Teofimo Lopez], only giving Lomachenko one round.
“But all the judges are high tight people, and I think everyone that watched that fight, whichever way they scored it, whether it was 7-5, 8-4, or 9-3, felt that Lopez clearly won the fight.
“So I think those comments [from Lomachenko] were completely out of line for Lomachenko. When I talk to him, I’ll tell him that,” Arum said.
Rather than Arum lecturing Lomachenko for believing what he believes, the Top Rank promoter should try and use his pull to persuade Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) to give Loma a rematch.
Oddly, Teofimo has shown no interest in fighting Lomachenko again, even though it would bring him in a lot more money than what he’ll get for his title defense against his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr.
Teofimo has become risk aversive
Since beating the 32-year-old Lomachenko in an upset victory, Teofimo is showing classic signs of a fighter that has lost his silliness to take risks. It’s not just Lomachenko that Teofimo has no interest in facing. Teofimo also has turned up his nose to facing Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta Davis.
So basically, Teofimo is ruling out fighting any of the top lightweights and is only interested in facing a little-known Australian fighter George Kambosos Jr. In other words, Teofimo has morphed into a cherry-picker/ducker and lost his way.
The hungry fighter that Teofimo was before he beat Lomachenko has mutated into an avoidant, strategic champion, who appears to be making highly calculated choices to reduce risks for him.
Like Andy Ruiz Jr was last year, Teofimo is at the top of the world right now, enjoying all the adulation he’s receiving from boxing fans. Teofimo has that hero-worship going at full bore, and he’s not interested in losing all the glorification he’s receiving.
Some fighters can’t handle fame. Look what it did to Ruiz. Now we see the same thing with Teofimo, although he’s not wrecking his career with food and laziness like Ruiz.
Instead, Teofimo is crippling his career by him ruling out taking risks. It’s too bad you can’t take Lomachenko’s brain and transplant it into Teofimo’s head to give him ambition and the courage that he’s lost.
There’s an excellent chance that Teofimo’s career will be the equivalent of meteor dust in the next three to five years. He doesn’t have the blue-collar mentality that he needs to stay on top.
Will fame ruin Teofimo’s career?
This writer predicts that Teofimo will end up like Jessie Vargas, a former two-division world champion, whose career imploded after he got a big payday against Manny Pacquiao in 2016.
When you contrast Teofimo’s behavior with past greats that showed bravery throughout their careers, it’s troubling.
Arum should use his power to get Teofimo to start retaking risks because he’s to stunt his career if he minimizes the chances of getting beaten by avoiding the dangerous fights.
Lomachenko’s comments are less important in the long run than the way Teofimo is now avoiding fighting the best at 135.
Arum should be doing all he can to set up a rematch between Lomachenko and Teofimo right now because the boxing public doesn’t want to see Lopez hand-picking Kambosos Jr. for an easy win.