On The Watch “It’s All about Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr.”

Unified Lightweight Championship

Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, in New York, NY, between Unified IBF/WBA/WBO/WBC “Franchise” Champion and Ring Magazine Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez (16-1, 12 Kos) and mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 Kos) was a surprising and shocking type of an event that was well worth the wait. Real Talk!

This bout was unexpectedly action packed from start to finish. Kambosos, the underdog, came in this bout with the mentality of a warrior with only one mission in mind: to succeed by any means necessary. There was evidence of that in the first round when Teofimo was in attack mode looking for a quick knockout landing heavy punches with Kambosos startlingly absorbing every shot quite well and dishing out his own and shockingly scoring the first knockdown of the night in doing so. Unbelievable!

The crowd in attendance went crazy. As the rounds progressed Teofimo was looking for that get back but was met with a hungry combatant who had a strict “game plan” and the right boxing tactics, keeping Teofimo at bay eating some very good shots round after round from Kambosos.

Kambosos showed Teofimo that he was way tougher than he expected absorbing and defending most if not all of what Teofimo was dishing out. Kambosos made this bout a war and as the rounds were piling up, Kambosos was the one winning the rounds in my eyes.

The visibly smaller man inside that squared circle was putting in that work on Teofimo bodying him up with some very good shots. Teofimo clearly misjudged his opponent’s skill and durability when pushed inside that squared circle. As the bout went on you could plainly see that although Teofimo was the bigger and stronger combatant, he was the one showing fatigue and taking the most punishment from Kambosos.

That being said, in the 10th round Teofimo finally got his get back by dropping Kambosos with a hard right hand for a quick 8 count. Even after being dropped, Kambosos showed some serious determination and survived the round and continued on in the championship rounds by going toe to toe and standing his ground in a convincing manner.

I gotta tip my “B” hat to Kambosos’ performance last night, Dude came inside that squared circle and fought his heart out and showed up B.I.G. on the biggest stage of his career to date.

After 12 full rounds of none stop action, the Judges scored it 115-111 for Kambosos, 114-113 for Teofimo and 115-112 for Kambosos who is now the New Unified IBF/WBA/WBO/WBC “Franchise” Champion and Ring Magazine Lightweight Champion of the World.

Teofimo seriously dropped the ball on this one and is now paying a hefty price. Maybe the inactivity over the year or the weight cut to 135 pounds was an issue. One thing is for sure: Teofimo did not prepare himself properly for this title defense.

Congratulations George! You walked it like you talked it and backed every word with the performance of your life on the biggest night of your career. You earned this one Hands Down!

Can’t no one take this victory away from you. You silenced all the naysayers who doubted you and now sit atop like an Emperor of the 135-Pound Division. Well done.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All about Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez”

Lightweight Title Unification Challenge

Last night’s highly anticipated Lightweight Division Main Event battle between WBA/WBO/WBC “Franchise” Champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-2, 10 Kos) and IBF Champion Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 Kos) inside “The Bubble” at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, was nothing short of entertaining.

Lopez showed up last night and showed up “BIG” inside that squared circle and corrupted the “Matrix” that is Lomachenko, real early with a flawless “game plan” from the jump. It was a chess match between two top tier combatants. However, the Master Chess player in Loma miscalculated his approach and fell behind in the first half of the bout and had to play catch up to make up for lost ground.

Loma’s slow start cost him dearly in this bout. His usual tactic of confusing his opponent wasn’t working on Lopez. Teofimo landed non-stop body punches that clearly limited Loma’s come forward approach. Loma obviously didn’t expect for Lopez to be this quick and accurate with heavy hands at the end of each punch.

Although Loma started to get things going his way in later rounds, Lopez’s steady jab with a sting attached to it, prevented Loma from ever clearly getting set up in his familiar riddim of fighting.

Teofimo’s youth, boxing IQ and sheer will to win carried him over to the finish line when Loma attempted to press him in trying to steal away the later rounds.

Last night’s bout wasn’t a passing of the torch but more of a “Takeover” by the young Lion Teofimo Lopez Jr. who seized the WBA/WBO/WBC “Franchise” Belts from Lomachenko’s grasp and retained his IBF Lightweight Title to now becoming the youngest four-belt champion in Boxing History. The Judges scored it 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. I personably saw it a little closer than that but can’t complain at the outcome. Your Boy Teofimo had to dig deep for this one and definitely earned it the hard way.

The Lightweight Division has a new “King” and he goes by the name of Teofimo Lopez Jr. The “Takeover” has begun.

Congratulations Champ!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell”

WBC/WBA/WBO Lightweight Challenge

Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 Kos) handled his business once again inside that squared circle tonight at the O2 Arena in London, with a hard and tough twelve round undisputed decision over UK’s very own and worthy opponent Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 Kos).

This bout was surprisingly competitive from start to finish but as expected, there are levels to this boxing sh*t and our usual suspect Lomachenko showed us fans and the boxing critics why he’s so dominant inside that squared circle.

Luke made it tougher than the previous suspects but as the rounds wore on, Lomachenko asserted himself effectively going high and low with an assortment of well-placed power punches that eventually caught Campbell late in the 11th round for a quick 8 count.

Luke fought a good fight tonight but was simply met with an exceptional superior warrior who was simply two steps ahead of him throughout the entire bout. All three Judges scored it 119-108, 119-108, 118-109 for Lomachenko.

With this win, Lomachenko successfully defended his WBA/WBO Lightweight Titles and now added the vacant WBC Lightweight Belt. With three of the Lightweight Belts safely in his possession, Vasiliy is now just one Title away from achieving Undisputed Lightweight Champion of the Division.

As I said before, Loma is a serious problem to the Lightweight Division and none of his competitors have yet to solve his puzzle.

Until your next bout is announced, congratulations on your latest achievement.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Mikey Garcia vs Robert Easter Jr.”

Lightweight Championship Unification

Last night, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Mikey Garcia WBC Lightweight Champion (39-0, 30 Kos) successfully unified two of the Lightweight Titles by administering a masterful beat down to IBF Lightweight Champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-1, 14 Kos). Real Talk!

To me the key to the fight last night was patience and Mikey, in being the much shorter boxer of the two, had to make sure every shot counted by being precise and accurate with every effort. There are levels to this boxing sh*t and Mikey proved it once again last night why he is above all opponents to date.

Now don’t get it twisted, Robert, an exceptional and very worthy opponent was gamed last night and came to fight but was simply out-boxed and out-smarted by a more seasoned boxer. Robert to say the least, had absolutely no answer to Mikey’s stalking, aggressive attacks. Once Robert got put down late in the third round he felt Mikey’s power and became the prey from this point on.

To me, Mikey is showing us time after time why he deserves to be on that Pound-for Pound list and why he’s determined to be the, best. Moving from Division to Division and successfully beating the best fighters is a statement within itself.

Congratulations Mikey on unifying two of the 135-pounds Titles. You truly are a Champion of Champions.

That being said, your call out of IBF Champion at the 147-pound Division Errol Spence Jr. as your next possible hit, might just be the ultimate challenge you’ve been looking for. Now I’m curious to see if the so-called “Boogie Man” of the Welterweight Division answers your call out and oblige your request.

Blaze