Scorecard: Vasyl Lomachenko shows talent, power in win
— -- A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at New York
Vasyl Lomachenko KO5 Roman "Rocky" Martinez
Wins a junior lightweight title
Records: Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs); Martinez (29-3-3, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Despite only seven professional bouts, it is very clear that Lomachenko, a 28-year-old southpaw from Ukraine, is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time world amateur champion does everything exceptionally well and would be the favorite against anyone in the world from junior lightweight and below. And he would probably beat a lot of lightweights, as well.
He was absolutely brilliant against Martinez, 33, of Puerto Rico, the big crowd favorite on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York. But as expected, Lomachenko, in his first HBO main event, ruined the night for the Puerto Rican fans in a dominant performance against Martinez, a three-time junior lightweight titleholder who was making the second defense of his current reign. He simply could not deal with Lomachenko's speed, accuracy, angles, movement or power.
"I couldn't see his hands," Martinez lamented about Lomachenko's hand speed.
Lomachenko was in command all the way before scoring a nasty, nasty knockout that will be in the conversation for knockout of the year. He landed a short left uppercut and then exploded a right hook on Martinez's chin, dropping him flat on his back as referee Danny Schiavone counted him out at 1 minute, 9 seconds, in the fifth round. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Lomachenko landed 87 of 202 punches (43 percent), while Martinez connected with only 34 of 178 blows (19 percent). Lomachenko also landed 58 percent of his power shots, a very high percentage.
Lomachenko came into the fight as a reigning featherweight titleholder and now has 10 days to decide which division he will keep his belt in, although he almost certainly will stay at junior lightweight. Lomachenko won his featherweight belt in only his third pro fight, tying the record for fewest fights needed to win a world title. And he made history again on Saturday, setting the record for fewest fights needed to win a title in two weight classes. He beat the mark established by Japan's Naoya Inoue, a reigning junior bantamweight titleholder, who took eight fights to win titles in a second division.
"Muhammad Ali is the greatest of all time," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. "We have a lot of great champions at Top Rank, but Vasyl Lomachenko is the greatest in our time. What a spectacular performance."
Felix Verdejo TKO5 Juan Jose Martinez
Lightweight
Records: Verdejo (22-0, 15 KOs); Martinez (25-3, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Puerto Rico's Verdejo, 23, the 2014 ESPN.com prospect of the year, was the big crowd favorite on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York, and he gave the fans what they wanted -- a knockout victory against heavy underdog Martinez, 30, of Mexico, whose six-fight winning streak came to an end.
Verdejo, viewed by many as his island's heir apparent to Miguel Cotto, came into the fight needing an impressive performance following rather pedestrian outings in three decisions in his previous four bouts. But he delivered a better performance this time, even if the quality of his opposition has been very weak, especially considering he has been fighting on HBO, where the standards are supposed to be higher.
Verdejo took advantage of Martinez's aggressiveness by countering him almost at will in a one-sided fight. He rocked Martinez with a left hook in the second round, cut and swelled his right eye by the end of the third round and then ended the fight in the fifth round. Verdejo caught Martinez with a heavy right hand that rocked him and Verdejo continued to assault him with an unanswered barrage of punches. Martinez was on the ropes and not punching back or defending himself, which forced referee Michael Ortega to wave off the bout at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
According to CompuBox punch statistics, Verdejo landed 90 of 261 punches (35 percent), and Martinez connected on only 36 of 128 blows (28 percent). Verdejo closed the show landing 24 of 40 power shots in the fifth round and landed 51 percent of his power shots overall.
"My career was on the line and that's why I worked so hard and wanted to win this one so much," Verdejo said of the need for a good performance, although overstating things. "We needed a big win and we got it."
Zou Shiming W10 Jozsef Ajtai
Flyweight
Scores: 100-89 (three times)
Records: Shiming (8-1, 2 KOs); Ajtai (15-3, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Zou Shiming, 35, the three-time Chinese Olympic medalist (gold in 2012 and 2008) and his country's most popular fighter, made his United States debut in a forgettable fight against unwilling participant Ajtai, 19, of Hungary. Zou won every round in hideously boring fight, mainly because Ajtai refused to engage and ran round after round.
"This wasn't how I envisioned my U.S. debut," Zou said. "I apologize to my fans. He just didn't want to fight."
Zou, who lost a decision to then-world titleholder Amnat Ruenroeng in March 2015, won his second fight in a row since. If Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who trains Zou, has his way, the next fight will be another world title opportunity against unified titlist Juan Francisco Estrada (33-2, 24 KOs) of Mexico.
Friday at London
Dmytro Kucher TKO1 Enzo Maccarinelli
Cruiserweight
Records: Kucher (24-1-1, 18 KOs); Maccarinelli (41-8, 33 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. Maccarinelli, 35, of Wales, is former cruiserweight world titleholder and a huge puncher, but he also has no chin. In December, he was the windshield to Roy Jones' bug when he scored an absolutely crushing knockout of Jones in the fourth round.
But against Kucher, 31, of Ukraine, Maccarinelli was the bug as he got obliterated in short order, his chin betraying him yet again; he has been stopped in all eight of his losses and many of them of in brutal fashion.
Kucher badly hurt Maccarinelli with a left hook to the chin and then followed with a right hand and another hammering left hook that dropped him hard. Maccarinelli barely beat the count but was in horrible shape and referee Giuseppe Quartarone waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 48 seconds as Maccarinelli trainer Gary Lockett was throwing in the towel.
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