Mikey Williams or Ed Mulholland/Top Rank
Lightweight WBA and WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko wins by fourth-round knockout against Anthony Crolla of Great Britain on April 12 in Los Angeles.
The neon lasers beaming downward from the ceiling made the Staples Center boxing ring appear as if it was protected by a high-tech security system. Some thought this prefight display was designed to subliminally reinforce a thought boxing promoters tried to implant in the public consciousness: Vasiliy Lomachenko is a master of the sport.
The confrontation that transpired on Friday night, April 12, in Los Angeles, definitely confirmed Lomachenko’s stylistic singularity – his fluid hands, his light feet, his coordinated movements – together comprising an aesthetic beauty that diverted attention from the damage he was inflicting on his opponent.
Pound-for-pound king Lomachenko was a huge favorite to retain his unified WBA and WBO titles against mandatory challenger Anthony Crolla. He did exactly that in a most dominant manner, knocking out Crolla face-first with a right hand in the fourth round of Top Rank Boxing’s main event before a crowd of 10,101 fans.
It was a fight Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KO) did not really want, but took because it was mandatory. The two-time Olympic gold medalist had unified two 135-pound belts with his one-sided decision over Jose Pedraza (25-1, 12 KO) of Puerto Rico last December, a bout less than seven months after he had torn the labrum in his right shoulder in his lightweight title win over Jorge Linares (10-1, 8 KO) of Venezuela in May 2018. Lomachenko’s shoulder was not back to 100 percent against Pedraza, but was good versus Crolla.
Lomachenko’s performance against Crolla was super impressive.
“He’s fantastic, unbelievable. I’ve never seen a fighter of that size be at that level, and I’ve been doing this over 50 years,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Lomachenko’s promoter, in a post-fight ESPN interview. “It’s almost breathtaking.”
Lomachenko had originally expected to further unify the division by facing fellow belt holder Richard Commey (28-2, 25 KO) of Ghana, a winner over Isa Chaniev (13-2, 6 KO) of Russia on February 2. Unfortunately Commey injured his right hand in the Chaniev knockout, making him unavailable for several weeks, dropping Crolla into the matchup. Lomachenko should get his turn with Commey later in the year.
The 31-year-old lefty started the fight methodically stalking his challenger, looking for any opening. Eventually he began landing his right jab, mixing in a few shots to the body of the Englishman. Meanwhile the 30-year-old Crolla (34-7-3, 13 KO) hardly threw any punches, constantly retreating against the slicker Ukrainian.
Round two saw Lomachenko let loose some combinations before hurting him with an uppercut that rocked Crolla’s head backward in a dominant display of attacking his challenger.
Lomachenko enjoyed a huge third round, landing punches from all angles as if in a sparring match. A barrage of straight left hands and body shots did major damage, with one shot knocking Crolla hard into the ropes. Referee Jack Reiss called a knockdown since the ropes were responsible for keeping Crolla on his feet. Lomachenko, most in the crowd and some boxing officials thought Reiss had waved off the fight and began celebrating a bit prematurely. The ring was cleared, the fight resumed only to have the third round end.
The showcase ended at 58 seconds of the fourth round, with Lomachenko throwing a left hand followed by an explosive right hook to the side of Crolla’s head. Crolla first dropped to his knees, then went down face-first. Reiss started a count, but waved it off at three, giving Lomachenko the dominating win. His dominance was illustrated by the CompuBox punch statistics: Lomachenko landed 72 of 249 shots (29 percent) while Crolla landed 12 of 96 (13 percent).
The superior performance, however, failed to answer the question of exactly how good is Lomachenko. Is his style a gimmick, full of unorthodox movements which confuse mediocre competition, but would not be as effective against big-time opponents?
What Lomachenko needs to prove – that he is truly an all-time great – just may be out of his control. He needs big-time opponents. Muhammad Ali was defined by Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard by Thomas Hearns. Lomachenko by…Crolla?
Lomachenko is aware of his position, which is why he continues to ask for a fight against fellow lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30 KO) of the U.S.A., a boxer comparable to him in ability. This may not happen because Garcia scaled up two weight classes for his own career-defining fight against Errol Spence (24-0, 21 KO) of the U.S.A. (Garcia lost) and may not be able to return to the 135-pound class. Garcia also has a bad history with Top Rank, his former promoter, making it unlikely the two would work together in the future.
Lomachenko is already stretching himself out for greater challenges, by his own admission claiming he should be fighting in the 130-pound junior lightweight division, not the 135-pound category in which he crushed Crolla.
Lomachenko was extremely entertaining, battering still another lightweight challenger, putting on quite a show. He did not prove he was worthy of mention alongside the best boxers who ever lived. Let’s hope he gets that chance.
On the horizon are fellow belt holders Commey (28-2, 25 KO) and Garcia, 21-year-old prospect Teofimo Lopez (12-0, 10 KO) of the U.S.A. and fellow gold medalist Luke Campbell (20-2, 16 KO) of Great Britain, who is Garcia’s mandatory challenger.
“I want to fight with Mikey Garcia, but we’ll see. I don’t know,” Lomachenko said after defeating Crolla. “I stay at 135 as long as it’s possible, and I want to unify all [the] titles.”