Another Vasiliy Lomachenko fight week is here and, with it, is the customary workaround needed to hype a fight between an elite-level generational talent and an opponent with absolutely no chance of beating him.
Lomachenko?s opponent this Saturday is Luke Campbell, a good UK fighter with an Olympic gold medal whose professional claim to fame at the world class level is a competitive loss to Jorge Linares in 2017 and a points win over former super featherweight champ Argenis Mendez in 2016.
The man is a legitimate top 10 lightweight. The problem is that there?s a world of difference in levels between ?top 10? and the two-time Olympic gold medalist from the Ukraine. That?s how good Lomachenko is when stacked up to the rest of the ?regular? world.
Realistically, Campbell doesn?t stand much of a chance against Lomachenko. There?s nothing he does that can trouble Lomachenko in any way and nothing he?s capable of doing that could make for an upset.
At best, Campbell?s best asset is toughness and that might keep him from being blown away until later in the fight. He?s also tall?clearly more than the two-inch advantage he has over Lomachenko on the official bio?and that might let fans see how Vasiliy disassembles an opponent from a different angle, with a slightly different approach. He?s better than Lomachenko?s last fall guy, Anthony Crolla, who was hopelessly overmatched and eliminated in the fourth round as soon as Lomachenko decided enough was enough. That?s something.
In the absence of competitive intrigue, Lomachenko-Campbell has to be sold in other ways.
This upcoming bout will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title, one of the two recognized world title belts the WBA/WBO champ Lomachenko doesn?t have. So, there?s been plenty of talk about Lomachenko?s burning desire to unify the 135 lb. division.
Lomachenko: ?This brings me one step closer to my main goal of having all the belts. I want to unificate [sic] all of the titles. That is my next goal in boxing. I have won titles in three weight categories, but I never won all four belts in a division. So, for me, Campbell is a very important name as I write my boxing history?I want to make history.?
This will be Lomachenko?s first pro fight in the UK, so the ?Greatness coming to Britain? angle is being run into the ground.
Bob Arum: ?Now,[Lomachenko] comes over to the UK, which really is the country that is most passionate and knowledgable about the sport of boxing, to exhibit his talents before the UK audience.?
Potential dream fights for Vasiliy have also been dragged out into the public discourse to tantalize the public and distract from the matchup in front of him. Most recently, the spotlight has been fixed on an utterly undoable bout with 130 lb. champ Gervonta Davis and Lomachenko?s stated willingness to move down in weight to make the fight happen.
Lomachenko: ?You know, after 135 I go down 130 and I think we can organize this [Gervonta Davis] fight.?
And there?s always promoter Bob Arum?s bluster about Lomachenko being the greatest ever, one of the greatest ever, as good as Ali, or even better than Ali.
Arum: ?Lomachenko is the best technical fighter I have ever seen.?
Arum: ?Technically he is the best since the young Muhammad Ali, not the Ali who returned after three years of inactivity?That Ali, technically, was incredible and I never thought I?d see anything like that until Lomachenko. Floyd Mayweather was a defensive fighter who threw enough punches to win rounds but Lomachenko is different?he is always looking to unlock the box, to find a way to destroy or make [an opponent] quit.?
They?re talking about everything but what we?re likely to see this Saturday?and there?s a reason for that. Lomachenko vs. Campbell won?t be a competitive fight and it won?t do a single thing to mark the legacy of a fighter who should be well beyond three-fight runs of guaranteed blowout victories.
This is a mix of Lomachenko being that good and the sport being that messed up when it comes to putting together risky, intriguing, best vs. best battles.
Too good for anyone but the most elite and too tucked away behind company walls to meet other elites halfway, Lomachenko is stuck being a virtuoso soloist.
