Lomachenko could be an Ali without a Frazier, a Leonard without a Duran?a genius without true opposition?
If you listened to the ESPN broadcast crew last Saturday, Vasyl Lomachenko was the best thing to happen to boxing since foam padding in gloves and the mouthpiece. Those watching the fawning praise heaped on the two-time Olympic gold medalist had to be half-expecting a discourse on the historic awesomeness of his boot-tying technique. The cheerleading was extremely cringe-worthy.
But none of this was Lomachenko?s fault.
Lomachenko just showed up and took care of business against a larger and highly-skilled, elite-level opponent in Jorge LInares. Moving up in weight and taking the WBA lightweight belt from Linares in the way he did, arguably, trumps the high-water mark wins of anyone else in the pound-for-pound top five.
Although Linares was not exactly suited to handle Lomachenko, he was certainly no patsy and he fought well right up until the nightmare-inducing liver shot that took him out in the tenth. Absurd claims that Lomachenko was ?exposed? in this fight, affirmed by Linares? knockdown of Vasyl in the sixth, are the stuff of social media idiocy and wishful thinking. Great fighters don?t look as dominant when matched against other outstanding fighters?and they look even less dominant when dealing with great fighters who also happen to be bigger. Duh.
But ESPN?s extreme hype-churning fluffing of the now three-division world champ did serve to spotlight the fact that the boxing business?s sad state may keep Lomachenko from ever proving how great he truly is. Maybe his greatness will have to be defined by love-struck media rather than through his actual ring achievements.
Lomachenko-Linares coming together was a bit of an anomaly, but not too unbelievable since Linares didn?t have too many big fight options available to him. Beyond a Linares bout, however, there?s just not that much for Lomachenko to do. Well, maybe it?s more accurate to say that politics and the boxing business in general may keep Lomachenko from having all that much to do.
A big legacy-defining fight with Mikey Garcia is the one everyone in the boxing world would like to see, but getting a deal together with the division-jumping free agent would be somewhere between Mayweather-Pacquiao and Joshua-Wilder on the difficulty scale. It would be especially difficult if Al Haymon is in the picture negotiating on Garcia?s behalf against longtime Haymon antagonist, and Lomachenko promoter Bob Arum.
A bout with talented, but erratic former super featherweight champ Gervonta Davis could be hard to put together for similar reasons. Putting Mayweather Promotions and Arum together, focused on the same fight, would be an invitation to a cockblock.
Meanwhile, the makeable fights for Lomachenko aren?t all that earth-shattering, to be honest.
A unification bout with WBO lightweight champ and Top Rank stablemate Ray Beltran is alright as a time-filler, but shouldn?t be all that competitive. Beltran, for all his toughness and old school grit, lacks the spark of genius necessary to compete with a fighter like Lomachenko.
Dragging super featherweight titlists Miguel Berchelt and Alberto Machado up to 135 would be safe blow-outs, but wouldn?t do much to cement the Ukraine native?s legacy as a great of this era. A return bout with shot-to-shit battler Orlando Salido, who beat him via foul-heavy split decision back in 2014, wouldn?t prove a thing. Match-ups with veteran former champs like Francisco Vargas, Ricky Burns, and Cristian Mijares would be little more than cynical r?sum?-fillers.
Realistically, if Mikey Garcia and Gervonta Davis are removed from the list of possible legacy-defining foes, names carrying similar weight don?t pop up again until one gets to junior welterweight, where fighters like Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez are about to take over the division. But asking a moderately-sized featherweight to beat the elite, three full divisions higher, may be too much to ask.
All great fighters need opposition capable of defining that greatness. A hero is only as good as his good deeds; a warrior is only as revered as his conquests.
The media fan boys and hardcore true believers are constantly telling us how great and transcendent Lomachenko is?and they might be right. But, more and more, it looks as though we may have to just take their word for it. Lomachenko could be an Ali without a Frazier, a Leonard without a Duran?a genius without true opposition.
