When comparing and contrasting the skills of Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez Jr. as a means to handicap Saturday’s lightweight unification fight in Las Vegas, everything from Lomachenko’s footwork to Lopez’s one-punch knockout power need to be considered.
Yet it’s clear the biggest difference between these reigning 135-pound champions is Lomachenko’s edge in experience. Despite both fighters entering with exactly 15 pro fights apiece, the 32-year-old Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) has already won world titles in three weight divisions, including collecting three of the four recognized lightweight belts, following a legendary amateur career in the Ukraine.
It’s ultimately what we still yet don’t know about Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs), a brash native of Brooklyn, New York, who captured the IBF title in December by stopping Richard Commey in his biggest fight to date, that has gone a long way in making him a betting underdog this weekend inside the MGM Grand Conference Center (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET).
For everything that Lopez brings to the table from the standpoint of flash and danger, he has very limited exposure to elite competition. Lomachenko, in contrast, fought for a world title in just his second pro fight and was able to win one in his third. A big reason why Lomachenko’s fast-tracked start as a professional wasn’t a case of too much, too soon was because of the experience he gained from being a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
But what about Lopez? How do we know that he’s truly ready to be this bold and challenge arguably the world’s top pound-for-pound boxer for a chance to become undisputed champion at just 23? Heck, how does he even know?
