Round-by-Round: Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez - October 17, 2020

[mcrow42]

Yeah, I thought going into the 12th depending on how the judges go and if Loma won the 12th it wouldn't be out landish to see a draw there.

[gilgamesh]

I had it 115-113, but yeah Loma lost.

Taylor-Hopkins 1 all over again. The Old Champ started too late. Had already lost the fight before he started fighting it.

Yeah, I had it 115-113 too. To me that's one where I start holding my breath with the judges. You get within 3 rounds and judges could totally crap the bed. The crapped the bed in this one too, it just happened that the two judges that crapped the bed went the way of the fighter that should have won. I mean, seriously what that one judge was watching I have no clue. I could see it 60-54 for Lopez for the first 6 but Loma pretty clearly won the next 4-5 rounds before losing the 12th.

I had it 7-0. If loma didn't get lit up in the 12th a draw wouldn't have been bad.

That was my score after 7 rounds too.

The 12th round was very competitive, and could've went either way. I thought it was for Loma personally, but they both did excellent work there. Lopez came out to match him that round for sure.

Rounds 8 thru 11 he began to dominate Lopez for that little stretch really, but like I said...too little, too late.

By the time he started, he needed knockdowns or a stoppage.

[mcrow42]

Yeah, I think I had it 7 rounds to 4 going into the 12th. On my card, it would probably have had to be KO to win at that point but if he won the 12th clearly and it was a draw I wouldn't have been surprised. I actually felt like there were a couple of rounds early on that could have been given to either guy but I scored them for Lopez because I felt like he had a slight edge there.

[Onetimeonly]

Yeah, I had it 115-113 too. To me that's one where I start holding my breath with the judges. You get within 3 rounds and judges could totally crap the bed. The crapped the bed in this one too, it just happened that the two judges that crapped the bed went the way of the fighter that should have won. I mean, seriously what that one judge was watching I have no clue. I could see it 60-54 for Lopez for the first 6 but Loma pretty clearly won the next 4-5 rounds before losing the 12th.

I had it 7-0. If loma didn't get lit up in the 12th a draw wouldn't have been bad.

That was my score after 7 rounds too.

The 12th round was very competitive, and could've went either way. I thought it was for Loma personally, but they both did excellent work there. Lopez came out to match him that round for sure.

Rounds 8 thru 11 he began to dominate Lopez for that little stretch really, but like I said...too little, too late.

By the time he started, he needed knockdowns or a stoppage.

The 12th was awesome, but no way that can go lomas way. Like hearns/Leonard 2. Loma did enough to keep it from 10-8

[bobcatbox]

Once again the Vegas mafia strikes.

In a tremendously close fight going into the last Teofimo Lopez pulled out the stops and showed real heart.

Like most of us I expected Loma with his greater experience and skillset to overcome his younger rivals size, reach and power advantages.

Maybe we all underestimated the kid. He was quick, very quick. In fact, no slower than Loma himself. Maybe that Bruce Lee T shirt he was sporting wasn't just for show.

Loma was the more skilled fighter but Lopez was just bigger, stronger and had reach and youth on his side. Even when Lopez dropped his hands and seemed shot (pre the deliberate low-blow), Teo retained just enough menace to keep Loma at bay.

Loma needs to get back to 130 and start stoping opponents again if he wants to win again. He will never win a decision in Vegas against the cartel's favoured A sider.

No eastern European boxer can - they all need a knockout. Ask GGG, ask Kovalev. Now ask Lomachenko. I hope you're listening Mr Pulev.

The cards were stacked against Lomachenko from the start. The cartel got what it wanted - their chosen future cash cow - and will have zero interest in arranging any rematch.

Julie Lederman's absurd scorecard is second only to Adalaide Byrde's. Neither inspiring any confidence in women judges. So inept they couldn't even fake a legit card.

It could have gone either way in the eyes of many watching - but not the judges. They had already decided that the A side was going to win come what may. Ring generalship obviously meant far less to them than delivering what Bob Arum and Top Rank demanded.

As for the outcry, where was it? Ward was surprised, he would be having them level after 10, but somehow he managed to restrain his protestations. Like the rest of them he knows where his future bread is buttered.

Dissenting voices such as Atlas and Malignaggi have been banished. Others like Montero will never get accepted onto boxing's gravy train.

It's almost a waste of time watching any Vegas fight that doesn't end in a stoppage. You know what the result will be.

It's downright foolish to bet against the Vegas 'A sider'

A little perplexed by this considering Loma was the betting favorite and “A” side in the fight. Are you seriously suggesting that Vegas rigged a fight against itself? Or do you believe that organized crime has once again invaded boxing? Both are baseless claims.

The shame in Lederman’s bad card is that it will give rise to this kind of nonsense post-fight accusations.

Does anyone seriously think Loma won that fight?

Perhaps a simple misunderstanding here.

By A side I mean from the promoters/ business cartel angle. Boxings A side is nothing to do with sport and everything to do with future profits.

Loma was the clear pre-fight favourite in most of the fans eyes but it was an open secret that Arum/Top Rank/Vegas etc would all obviously benefit the most from a Teofimo Lopez victory.

I'm not arguing that Lomachenko deserved the win, but it was a very close fight in the ring.

Unfortunately the cards told another story.

They tell us that only way Lomachenko was walking away with the belts on Saturday was via a stoppage. [Ditto GGG v Canelo 1+2 ditto Kovalev v Ward 1+2.]

The judging once again serves to underline the commercial subtext behind most Las Vegas fights. It's got to the point where it's now expected.

Of course there will be no rematch. Why would they risk it again?

We've been arguing about this for decades now, but it really is high time that something was done about the appointment and assessment of boxing officials.

Maybe the last word should go to Bob Arum who can now safely reach for his wallet and breathe a sigh of relief having got exactly what he wanted.

"Lopez won, 7-5 is way I scored it. I can see 8-4, that's a possibility. But you can't score it 11 rounds to 1 and say you watched the fight,"

"Ninth, 10th and 11th weren't close. I would advise any fighter that I have to ask for the commission not to appoint Julie Lederman."

I respect it. I guess I have a lot more faith in Vegas officiating overall. Do agree that Lederman’s card is egregious and don’t blame Loma or Arum or necessarily any fighter for scratching her as a judge. With a fight of this magnitude you cannot get it that wrong.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[margaret thatcher]