Lomachenko vs. Nakatani: Back on Track
Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
If modern boxing ever had a prodigal son, it’s the mercurial Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko.
Well, for one fight, he kinda went away, and now it looks like he’s back, in the proper fashion.
Deep Background
Now, let’s not beat around the bush.
Osaka native Masayoshi Nakatani is a solid fighter, with proven grit, decent power and pretty rock-solid fighting spirit - he showed this in his comeback win over former champion and alleged murderer Felix Verdejo in his last outing, recovering from two knockdowns to win by TKO - and a good record.
His talents should not be maligned, by any means.
But his part in this fight is largely featuring as a common opponent between the two top dogs in boxing’s lightweight division; the man who has just trounced him, and the man who holds almost all of the belts at 135lbs, Téofimo Lopez.
Lomachenko of course lost in surprising fashion to Lopez back in October of 2020; not, as many suggested he would lose if the small possibility that he could lose, ie; by knockout from the bigger man.
Rather, he was soundly outboxed by the much younger man and lost a clear, uncontroversial decision.
Well, Loma being a boxer and a proud champion, he of course had an established, and fairly unwavering personal and public battle with the notion that he ACTUALLY lost, on equal terms, to another boxer.
No, he protested, he had torn a shoulder muscle in the second round while throwing a right hook, and this is what slowed him down and caused his tentativeness.
The public, and of course Teo Lopez especially, discounted this notion by and large.
And so, ever since that loss Loma has been on a crusade to get his pride, and his belts back, but, for the most part Téo Lopez has been reluctant to entertain the idea of a rematch.
No, he said, it was a clear victory, a clean decision, and anyway, he’s beginning to get too big for 135lbs and may soon need to be thinking of moving up to 140lbs.
But, an opportunity fell into Lomachenko’s lap.
An Angle for Revenge
Téo has had a pretty stellar run in his young pro career thus far; he’s been banging fellas out left right and centre in spectacular fashion, and also beating quite possibly the most technically gifted boxer of this active era, but, he has one minor tarnished patch on his record.
Well, it’s hard to term it a tarnish, but it has certainly managed to be spun that way.
On July 19th, 2019, Lopez faced one Masayoshi Nakatani, then undefeated, fighting outside of his native Japan for the first time, in a title eliminator.
Here’s why it’s hard to term it a true blemish; Lopez won cleary on the scorecards. But the story of the fight was of Téo genuinely struggling with Nakatani’s height and reach, getting constantly jarred and interrupted by intercepting jabs and shots, finding it difficult to find a rhythm and take the fight over.
He found it so uncomfortable in fact, that after the fact, in the post-fight interview he actually floated the notion that he would never fight a taller fighter again, a profoundly absurd notion for a professional prizefighter.
So, fast forward to Saturday, 26th June.
Lomachenko spotted an opportunity. If he can’t goad Téofimo Lopez into a rematch, maybe he could try to embarrass him into one instead.
So he came into this matchup with Lopez’s most awkward opponent with a point to prove.
As stated, Nakatani is known to deliver a decent punch, and behind it possesses a good chin. He is also tall, very tall for the weight, and knows fairly well how to use his height.
Well, against more linear fighters, anyway. He tends to stay rooted, especially when throwing, which led to many writers, including this one, to suggest that Lomachenko’s consistent, methodical angle-taking and head movement would allow him to circle Nakatani’s static frame relatively easily.
Many Angles to Victory
And so it transpired; despite being known as a relatively slow starter, Lomachenko began this fight like he had an appointment right afterwards. Normally he’ll take a round or two to take the measure of his opponent, but nah, not this time.
His straight left just couldn’t miss, all fight. He found it relatively simple to slip Nakatani’s long jabs, and just lance him on the counter, time and again.
He would also allow Nakatani to swing, miss and mis-position himself, and emerge, wraith-like, on Nakatani’s shoulder, ready to spank and unsighted Nakatani on the ribs or body.
He genuinely had his way with the much taller opponent all fight.
The man who had been such a tough outing for the current man at the top of the lightweight pile, and a former champion in Verdejo, was no trouble at all for a rejuvenated Lomachenko.
What’s more, he seemed to be especially reveling in the pain he was causing this time around.
Lomachenko has always been an undoubtedly nasty fighter; his beautiful skills and style belie the fact that he is genuinely quite a nasty motherfucker in the ring on occasion, but Nakatani really bore the brunt of a man on a mission.
Some salvoes, such as one in the sixth, and two in the ninth round, and especially the one that put Nakatani down and out, were particularly sickening in their ruthlessness and dominance.
Lomachenko is not a heavy-handed power puncher, but he is a ruthlessly accurate combination puncher, which is how he generally manages to put his opponents away.
Which is exactly how he beat down Nakatani, and in the process, wouldn’t you know it, may have just irked the Téo Lopez team into actually accepting another fight versus Lomachenko.
Sometimes, actions genuinely do speak louder than words.