A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX – VASYL LOMACHENKO
By Paul J Daley
I sat in front of a blank screen for an hour thinking of words to describe Vasyl Lomachenko, still at this moment unable to comprehend the fighter who on Saturday night became a three weight world champion, needed only twelve fights to do so in becoming the first fighter to accomplish the feat.
I found myself watching the fight unfold with mouth agape of two gladiators of the squared circle, enticing us with what can only be described as boxing porn.
On the night the spoils of war went to Lomachenko but to not mention the man who pushed him to his limits would be an injustice. Jorge Linares fought a beautiful fight trying everything in the book to find the key to unlock the defence of Lomachenko, to the amazement of most a straight right hand seemed to do the trick in the 6th but as quick as the hand that landed it, the opportunity to expand on it went also.
Vasyl bounced back up and made it through the round using his legs to tick down the seconds remaining, It was a glimpse that maybe he was human after all?
I’m not convinced, a glitch in the matrix, Vasyl restored order as he dictated the action behind a surgical jab, like a swiss army knife, the punch, gauged distance, pulled down the defence of Linares to open an opportunity for a hard liver shot which dropped and ended the reign of ‘King’ Linares as boxing scribes the world over scrambled to find superlatives for their fight report of a fighter who looks now to be unbeatable.
Fallout:
The fallout from the contest had corners of social media claiming Jorge quit which is I find is most absurd, The grimace on the face of Linares alone told the story, just because he rose before the count doesn’t mean he could continue, walking back to his corner still haunted by the well placed shot administered, a shot which has seen many greats felled and will no doubt see many more.
Other corners began to play down the merits of Lomachenko, more absurdity, seeing tweets and facebook posts comparing him with Floyd Mayweather gave me a chuckle, I even nearly fell into the trap, finding myself half writing a tweet in defence of Lomachenko before coming to my senses, thinking why am I bothering?
History Maker:
Lomachenko walks his own path, carving out a professional career that follows the blueprint that made him one of the greatest amateur fighters of all time, on Saturday night a feat was achieved, he became a three weight world champion as others have done before him, the difference was that he did it the quickest, needing only twelve fights to accomplish the feat, It baffles to think how further he can go although in his crosshairs stands another P4P inductee in Mikey Garcia who will further test his credentials at Lightweight.
Before getting too excited, I don’t foresee that fight happening next, Lomachenko is scheduled to fight again in August where If I was a betting man, my money would be on Reymundo Beltran and a chance to further pad out the title collection with the WBO title.
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