Lomachenko a tall order for Campbell
WHEN Luke Campbell says he has barely watched Vasyl Lomachenko, we have to take it with a sniff of resin, as a means of trying to protect himself from the great man’s reputation before they come face to face in London’s O2 Arena tonight.
Can there be a serious boxer on the planet who has not only made it his business to watch the Ukrainian ringmaster at work but also marvelled at his unique talent?
World lightweight champion Lomachenko is an education, a revelation, a thrill to behold. Sometimes the brilliance is so bedazzling that even highly regarded opponents give up mid-fight.
Guillermo Rigondeaux, the Cuban rated one of the best amateurs of all time, is among four who have done just that in Lomachenko’s last seven fights. Some, like Anthony Crolla this April, bravely carry on until they are knocked out.
Retire or go down fighting, nearly all Lomachenko’s opponents suffer a tendency to be overawed before they enter the ring.
‘Not me,’ says Campbell who, like the champion he is about to challenge, won Olympic gold at London 2012. ‘I accept he is a great fighter but I’ve not seen much at all of his fights. So I will not be intimidated before the start.
‘I know he is rated the best poundfor-pound fighter in the world. But I go into the ring expecting to win. I’ve got this chance for greatness.’
Cool Hand Luke surely knows what he’s getting into. Lomachenko doesn’t doubt it, saying: ‘Campbell has a very high boxing IQ.’
Lomachenko admits he faces a ‘serious fight’, not least, he intimates, because Campbell stands physically as high for this weight division as his ring intelligence.
The tale of the tape puts Lomachenko just two inches shorter, at 5ft 7in, but when they face off the difference looks greater. There is a long reach differential, too. Campbell
says: ‘My size, reach, strength and punching power will be vital.’
In preparation, Lomachenko has been sparring against even bigger men. Not to mention his sessions against three sparring partners at the same time.
Campbell will be confronted by extraordinary footwork which enables movement in every direction, so fast that it opens up previously unknown angles for equally swift, pinpoint punches.
There is a theory Lomachennko is at his least comfortable if an opponent can pressurise him, rough him up, hit him low a few times, ‘ accidentally’. But that is not Campbell’s way.
‘Cool Hand Luke’ says it all. He is a very well-schooled amateur who fights as a pro in the classic style, happier using his jab to keep the exchanges at long range.
Lomachenko will be looking to come in low, and from his unusual angles under the radar, to inflict quick-fire damage at close quarters. Both are southpaws, so that should not advantage either man.
All the odds insist Lomachenko will win, by my estimation with a stoppage in the second half of the fight.
l Lomachenko v Campbell is live on Sky Sports Box Office from 6pm.