By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)
Vasiliy Lomachenko faced Australian George Kambosos, Jr. for the IBF lightweight title, and this promised to be an interesting fight as both fighters were looking not just for a title but also a loss could hurt the loser if not end his career as championship contenders.
Lomachenko won the first two rounds as Lomachenko landed Kambosos 18 punches to 5 and controlled the ring and I had Lomachenko ahead 20-18. In the third round Kambosos landed 8 punches for his best round, but his opponent landed 14 punches and as ESPN announcers Tim Bradley noted as the fourth round progressed, Lomachenko has downloaded his opponent weakness and he simply avoided Kambosos punches while accurately landing 21 punches to only one for Kambosos and after the round, it was 40 to 36 for Lomachenko who is looking as sharp as I seen in a while.
The fifth round was the same as the other rounds as Lomachenko simply landed at will and Kambosos couldn’t even land a punch. Lomachenko landed 41 punches and Kambosos only three in the fourth and fifth round.
The sixth round, Kambosos became more aggressive but unfortunately as he moved forward, he got counter by Lomachenko who landed 19 punches to Kambosos 7, and halfway through the fight 60-54, an easy fight to score.
The seventh-round saw Lomachenko dominate the round with slick boxing, sharp accurate punches and Kambosos was missing when he threw. Kambosos threw a punch only to find Lomachenko was no longer there. Lomachenko cut Kambosos’ right eye and now Kambosos was becoming more desperate and after nine rounds, 90-81 since I had not found a round to give Kambosos.
The tenth round saw Lomachenko repeat what he did for the previous nine rounds. His boxing was masterful, and he moved with fluidity as he maneuver Kambosos into position and bloodied up Kambosos’ face. With two rounds left, Lomachenko was up on my scorecard 100-90. In the eleventh round, Lomachenko went to the body and sent Kambosos down for the count with a vicious straight hand to Kambosos’ face. Kambosos got back up, but it was obvious that Kambosos had little left and Lomachenko attacked Kambosos with two nasty body shots that sent Kambosos down for the count.
Lomachenko spent the past year fighting Russians in his native Ukraine and he came back strongly. He started fast and you would not known that Lomachenko was 36 years old and had spent a year in combat. From the opening bell to the very end, he moved and boxed brilliantly, giving Kambosos little chance to hit while taking advantage of any hole in Kambosos’ defense.
This is what domination looks like. Lomachenko landed 175 punches to Kambosos 40, that means for every punch Kambosos landed, Lomachenko landed 4. Lomachenko landed 70 jabs to only 4 for Kambosos and Lomachenko landed 105 power shots and landed 50 percent of his power shots. Lomachenko landed three power shots for every one that Kambosos landed.
There was not one round in which Kambosos out landed Lomachenko in punches and Lomachenko averaged 16 punches landed per round compared to Kambosos 4 punches. That is what domination of a fight looks like.
This was one of Lomachenko best fights and this was as masterful a performance as one could ever expect, an elite fighter showing at the age of 36, that he still has it.
Loma hasn’t lost a step and he has had a career like an elite HOF fighter