By Brian Webber: Shakur Stevenson wasn’t impressed with what he saw from Vasyl Lomachenko’s performance last Saturday night in beating #8 WBC lightweight contender Jamaine Ortiz by a 12 round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Shakur remarked during the fight that the 34-year-old Lomachenko isn’t the fighter he used to be and that the’s “too slow and Old” to beat him.
Indeed, Lomachenko looked much slower than he’d been nine years ago when he began his professional career against Jose Luis Ramirez in 2013.
Lomachenko had a much tougher time than expected against the previously unbeaten 26-year-old Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs) last night, getting hit a lot early in the contest and winding up winning a fight that appeared much closer than the scores turned in by two of the judges.
The scores:
- 116-112
- 117-111
- 115-113
The former two-division world champion Stevenson says he saw the Lomachenko-Ortiz fight as a 6-6 draw, and he feels that the two top guys in the 135-lb weight class that should be fighting next are him and undisputed lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson.
The 24-year-old Stevenson’s Tweets last Saturday night after the 34-year-old Lomachenko’s victory suggest that he thinks the next big fight should take place for the undisputed lightweight championship should be between him and Haney (29-0, 15 KOs).
Unfortunately for Shakur (19-0, 9 KOs), the chances of him taking the place of Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) as the challenger to the 23-year-old Haney are slim and none.
Stevenson hasn’t fought at lightweight yet, so it’s improbable that he’ll get the shot against Haney ahead of Lomachenko, who has been grinding away at 135 since 2018.
I’m 25 ain’t nobody I’m not ready for if I’m not ready now I’m not ever gone ready – And truthfully I been ready for all y’all for a couple years now tbh 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
Most definitely 💰 https://t.co/LUZkfO8gCS
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) October 30, 2022
Lol me and Dev the big one 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/vudYX5OpPo
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
Me too https://t.co/Cn1npeLNB4
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/rich0671/status/1586569232912875522?s=20&t=USUsmZKZHqEawih2P_QB2A
Too slow too old looking https://t.co/5A7IfrvvaG
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
He not the same fighter he used to be
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
Even if Loma wins tonight Dev smokes him
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
Dude bout to mess the money up it look like
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 30, 2022
A mistake that Lomachenko made in his fight with Jamaine Ortiz is that he should have inserted a rehydration clause in the contract because he looked like he was outweighed by at least 15 pounds last Saturday night.
Lomachenko was fighting a guy a guy that was far bigger than him, and appeared to be two weight classes above him in size. In reality, Lomachenko is more of a 126 to 130-pounder rather than a lightweight.
Loma should be fighting at super featherweight rather than at lightweight, where he’s facing guys like Jamaine who look like they belong in the 140-pound division.
If Lomachenko is going to insist on staying at lightweight for money purposes, he’s going to have to get used to fighting guys that are far bigger than him.