Some thoughts on Teofimo Lopez defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko

 

(Scorecard originally published at FightNews.com) Throw out the bad, ridiculous scoring (even 116-112 was off a round) and give earned respect to Teofimo Lopez. He outgutted Vasiliy Lomachenko in round 12 to take the fight 115-113. It reminded me of an exhausted Larry Holmes taking Round 15, and the win, from Ken Norton 40 plus years ago. Loma only won one of the first seven rounds, but he swept 8, 9, 10 and 11 and was poised to get a draw or a win if he floored Lopez in Round 12. But Lopez rallied to win the final stanza. What great heart and determination.

More about the scoring: The 116-112 score for Lopez was defensible. One can argue he swept the first 7 rounds, lost 4 and then took Round 12. However, a 114-114 draw score, as Andre Ward had it, is also defensible. One can argue that Lomachenko won rounds 2, and 7 through 11. I disagree with both. I gave Lomachenko Round 2 (because he stunned Lopez with a combination) but I thought Lopez narrowly won Round 7.

But the 117-111 call for Lopez was mediocre judging and Julie Lederman’s 119-109 call was “this-clown-should-be-fired” bad judging. WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL that Lopez showed championship heart and dominated Round 12. Imagine if Lomachenko had dominated Round 12 and even knocked down Lopez? He still would have lost a unanimous decision, with Lederman giving Lopez a 7-point victory edge!!!

Notes: Rowdy Akers competed in bareknuckle boxing last weekend in Kansas. He fought valiantly but was stopped by Loren Hermreck. Clay Collard contacted Covid-19 and missed his bout on the Lopez vs Lomachenko undercard against undefeated Quinton Randall. Randall fought and looked impressive in a win. Hopefully, Clay will be back soon. Mountain Force MMA had a card in Grantsville last night. Results are here courtesy of Fighting Out of Utah MMA News Facebook page.