By Sean Jones: Teofimo Lopez Sr. discredited Vasily Lomachenko’s ninth round knockout victory over Masayoshi Nakatani (19-2, 13 KOs) last Saturday night by saying that the Japanese fighter isn’t the same guy that Teo beat in July 2019 due to the wear & tear that he got from that fight.
Teofimo struggled throughout his 12 round contest against Nakatani, beating him by a hard-fought unanimous decision in a fight that was much closer than the wide scores turned in by the judges.
After the fight, Teofimo said he didn’t want to fight any more tall guys because of how difficult it was to get in punching range without getting nailed.
In contrast, Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) made it look easy, toying with Nakatani, dropping him twice pitching a shutout until scoring a knockout in the ninth.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko will be facing Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) in a rematch for his IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO 135-lb titles, provided that Teo beats challenge George Kambosos Jr on August 14th or September 11th.
It’s unclear when Teofimo will be fighting Kambosos Jr because Teo supposedly has COVID 19, but there are rumors of poor ticket sales.
Over a week ago, we heard that Teofimo’s fight with the little-known Autralian Kambosos Jr would be postponed to August 14th.
But a few days later, reports surfaced that the fight is being moved to September 11th for the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vitor Belfort old timer’s exhibition match on Triller PPV.
Sticking the Teofimo-Kambosos Jr fight on the undercard of the De La Hoya vs. Belfort card smart move by Triller because they wouldn’t have to worry about the anemic ticket sales and PPV buys for this dreadful match.
Teofimo Sr devalues Lomachenko’s win over Nakatani
“What an amazing performance. It was unbelievable,” said Teofimo Lopez Sr on Lomachenko’s win over Nakatani last Saturday night.
“But I got to tell everybody this. Lomachenko didn’t fight the same Nakatani that we fought. We put Nakatani in the hospital for about a year and a half, where he was almost going to be retired.
“But if they [Team Lomachenko] want to bring it back, we can bring it back after Kambosos,” said Teofimo Sr. “I already told Bob Arum. He called me up on stage, and he asked, ‘Mr. Lopez, what are we going to do?’
“We can make that fight happen with my son. It’s up to what he wants to do.’ I don’t control my son. My son does whatever he wants to do, but I see that fight [with Lomachenko] as very attractive.
“I see it where we can make a lot of money and satisfy the world to let them know that my son is the best fighter in the world.
“But I can never take nothing away from Lomachenko. He did an amazing job tonight. I called it. If you look at my previous interviews, I said Lomachenko is going to kill him [Nakatani] on the angles, and he was going to get rid of him. My predictions always come true. I know boxing,” said Teofimo Sr.
Nakatani looked great in his previous fight beating Felix Verdejo last December. There was no drop-off in Nakatani’s game after his fight against Teofimo.
He looked just as good against Verdejo as he did against Teofimo, so it’s a mistake for Teo Sr to say the Japanee fighter wasn’t the same guy they fought.
Masayoshi couldn’t handle Loma’s speed
“Nakatani is not a fast fighter, he’s too tall, too lengthy where he has a lot of length over you, and he’s really tall,” said Teofimo Sr. “So if you have a fighter that can sneak in from the sides, he’s going to destroy you.
“That’s exactly what I expected Lomachenko to do, and he did it. He did it 100% really good. I didn’t think he was going to do it that good.
“When you’re an elite fighter like Lomachenko, this is what you expect to happen. A lot of people began to question Lomachenko’s fighting style and what he was because my son beat him.
“No, my son beat a great. Lomachenko was never easy; We made it look easy, but it wasn’t easy. You son, my son, struggle a little bit [against Lomachenko] in the ninth and tenth rounds.
“Those were the only rounds where I saw him struggle a little bit and the 11th. That was the only round I gave Lomachenko because he did two times better than he did in the other rounds.
“I only had Lomachenko beating my son in the 11th round. Tonight, I told everybody, ‘He’s going to come hungry because he wants this,” said Teofimo Sr.
Sean Jones gave Lomachenko five rounds in his fight against Teofimo. For Teofimo Sr to only give Lomachenko the 11th round, it makes you wonder if he’s memory or eye problems at his age.
Teofimo Sr predicting easy KO for his son against Loma
“You know, everything in Lomachenko’s head is Teofimo Lopez,” Teofimo Sr; continued. “It’s suffering. He goes to sleep every night thinking about that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ttYqazLb2Q
“He wants to prove to the world that he’s better than anyone in the world now. He came out with his A-game tonight, and I appreciate it. That was amazing.
“If they [Lomachenko] want to bring it back [rematch], we’ll bring it back. Easy knockout because he’s going to try and come in the beginning [for Teofimo],” said Teo Sr when asked what happens in the rematch with Lomachenko.
“My son already knows his moves. My son already knows how to beat him. That’s one thing about my son. He remembers your style. If he beats you the first time, the second time, he’s going to beat you worse.
“I know that for a fact. Devin is never going to fight us,” said Teofimo Sr. “You guys got to stop that with Devin Haney.
“They’re going to outprice themselves. They’re going to say we’re scared of them. Devin Haney’s father saw that we beat the s*** out of him in sparring.
“He knows he’s not going to put his son in with my son. So I think the fight that can be made is my son and Lomachenko because Lomachenko really wants this fight.
“He [Lomachenko] would destroy him [Haney],” said Teofimo Sr when asked how a fight between Lomachenko and Haney would go.
Teofimo Sr. needs to worry about his son selling tickets for his fight against George Kambosos Jr.
We’ve already seen that fight moved to three different dates and is now being moved to the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vitor Belfort card on Triller PPV on September 11th.
Teofimo vs. Kambosos Jr is just a white elephant, something that has no worth to it. It’s unbelievable that Triller actually spent money to bid on this eyesore.
What we don’t want to see is the Teofimo-Kambosos fight continuing to be kicked down the road due to poor ticket sales, to where it still hasn’t happened by mid-2022.
Lomachenko can’t wait for the remainder of his career for Teofimo to finally get his fight with Kambosos Jr over with.
You can certainly understand why Teofimo Sr is predicting an easy victory for Teo against Lomachenko in their potential rematch in 2022.
After all, Teofimo Sr is talking about his son, and he’s not going to downplay his chances of victory against Loma. But if you ask the boxing world who wins that fight, most fans will say Lomachenko is too good for Teofimo and beats him easily as long as he’s healthy.
It might even be even more of a mismatch as the Nakatani fight was last Saturday night.