You know it was a good one when you are still discussing it one, two days later, right?
The buzz concerning the Teofimo Lopez triumph — that’s the right word, it wasn’t a mere “win” — over Vasiliy Lomachenko is staying at that certain level as of Monday afternoon.
Sure, too much attention is paid to that scorecard from Julie Lederman. Part of that stems from the fact that this an era of excessive focus on self. I mean, really, who gives a shit end of day how much you hated Julie’s card, and what you scored Loma-Lopez. You care in the same way you care about who is on your fantasy football team, but in actuality, no one else gives a flying fuck.
I see people paying “zero doubt, Loma won round eight.” Bullshit. The first third of the round was close, I think Loma edged it. The second third Loma I think edged it by a greater margin. But that last third, Teofimo worked harder, threw more, was the better ring general, and landed the harder cleaner shots. And know what? The last third of the round is sometimes fresher in the mind of the human being watching, so it is totally plausible to give Teofimo that round.
No one out there, not me, not you, any of us, should be so married to our cards that we become boring in the manner we defend them. Unless you score the round, mark down the winner as soon as it ended, like Lederman, Cheatham, and Weisfeld did, then you cannot act as if your methodology is so pristine and your skills as an arbiter are superior to theirs. You cannot. But many of you still will.
The more proper focal point is this: full props need to go to Teofimo and Team Teofimo for taking this shot, for being bang-on with the predictions and the trash talk, for adhering to a wondrous strategy, all of it. Again, the age we are in discourages that sort of analysis, in media and on social most of us do the disservice of trying to come up with reasons why the loser lost, justify our pre-fight pick, and obsess on what comes next.
Those are a couple bigger picture takeaways right there. Here are some more tidbits and takeaways which I’ve mulled since the kid schooled the master in the Bubble in Las Vegas.
— I dug it when Teofimo was asked where he is, pound for pound, in the post-fight presser. Wouldn’t blame the kid if he said, “Number one!” But nah, he said he thought somewhere in the top ten.
Manager David McWater, who heads up Split-T and is on his way to having the biggest or maybe best stable of any advisor, was asked the same.
“He’s gotta be number one, right? I mean, I just can’t imagine someone else dominating a number one more than he did. I really believe he is the best fighter in the world.”
OK, did McWater know that before, or was he halfway there and Teofimo dragged him over the line Saturday night?
“I felt like it was true, but was worried that I was too involved to be objective. Now there is no doubt in my mind,” McWater told me.
Oh, and we are ticking down to the end of this beastly year, which most of us hope will stand alone as the shittiest one any of us ever experience. That doesn’t mean some good stuff hasn’t happened; some aces have elevated themselves and deserve public acclaim galore.
Like Teofimo the elder, my 2020 Trainer of the Year. While I’m at it, I will send in a partial ballot now, and vote for McWater as Manager of the Year.
“Weird year, 2020, but yeah, would seem odd if I didn’t get it, McWater said. “We’ve had so many guys fight and of course this fight. I think besides the Lopez fight, it was a big deal that most of our guys have fought. In the COVID year it was hard work just getting fights and most guys haven’t fought at all. Also we may have Fight of the Year with (Zepeda-Baranchyk) even though we lost. It may not sound like a lot but we’ve had over 30 fights since March which I would think has to be the most.”
