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LOMACHENKO WINS WBO JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE WITH SMASHING 5TH ROUND KO OVER DEFENDING CHAMPION ROCKY MARTINEZ By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sun, 12 Jun 2016  WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, a prot?g? of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, won his second world title by capturing the WBO junior lightweight crown with a smashing 5th round knockout of defending champion Rocky Martinez, which painfully came for the Puerto Rican champion the night before the colorful Puerto Rican Day parade in New York. Boxing Scene reported that Lomachenko made Madison Square Garden?s Theater a mini-Ukraine, thrilling a crowd of 4,545 with a master class against Rocky Martinez before scoring a chilling knockout in the fifth round that earned him the WBO junior lightweight title. It was the same 130 pound title that the late, great Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde held for seven years, three months and ten days after winning the belt with a spectacular 7th round knockout of American Harold Gomes whom he dropped no less than seven times en route to the massive win at the inauguration of the Araneta Coliseum, site of the famous ?Thrilla in Manila? between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on October 1, 1975. With the win Lomachenko improved his record to 6-1 with 4 KOs. The classy, two-time former Olympic gold medalist has now won two world titles in just seven pro fights, adding the 130-pound crown to his 126-pound WBO title. Boxing Scene said the crowd seemed split down the middle at the start, each side alternating chants for their man. Lomachenko got off to a good start offensively and defensively, shooting in and out with his punches as Martinez tried to solve the Ukrainian puzzle. By round two, it appeared that it was going to be an uphill battle for Martinez (29-3-2, 17 KOs), as Lomachenko was always one step ahead with his accurate shots and gone before Martinez could respond. And this was with Lomachenko standing just inches away. Martinez upped his work rate in the third, only to pay for it with each retort from the two-time Olympic gold medalist, who punctuated the round with a straight shot to the face that briefly staggered the 130-pound champion. Soon, Lomachenko?s straight left was hurting Martinez every time it landed, and while the Vega Baja native wasn?t backing away, he wasn?t concerning the challenger too much either. In the fifth, Lomachenko went on the attack, and after staggering Martinez with a left uppercut, a single and frightening right hook sent the Puerto Rican crashing to the deck, where he was counted out at 1:09 of the round. Two other Arum prot?g?s also won impressively with unbeaten WBO No. 2 ranked lightweight Felix ?El Diamante? Vredejo scoring a 5th round TKO over No. 11 WBC suoper featherweight Juan Jose ?Piquet? Martinez to retain his WBO Latino title with Verdejo dominating Martinez throughout before staggering Martinez in the 5th round and following through with a flurry of punches forcing referee Michel Ortega to call a halt at 2:40 of the round while China?s two-time former Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming made his US debut. With the win, Verdejo brought some cheer to his Puerto Rican fans even as he moved to 22-0 with 15 KOs while Martinez, who hadn?t lost for nearly two years, dropped to 25-3 with 17 KOs. IBF No. 5 ranked flyweight Zou Shiming won a lopsided ten round unanimous decision against Jozsef Ajtai of Hungary with Shiming chasing Ajtai throughout the fight to win by a 100-89 shutout on the scorecards of all three judges and successfully defended his WBO International flyweight title. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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