Boxing insiders and observers had long tipped the lightweight division to become the sport’s most exciting weightclass. Then on this day in 2020, it happened. IBF champion Teofimo Lopez, a brash 23-year-old having just his 15th professional contest, did something no one could believe. Making good on his ‘Takeover’ nickname, the young Brooklynite beat WBA, WBO and The Ring champion Vasiliy Lomachenko via unanimous decision to take his titles and his invincible reputation. Neither man, nor the division they illuminated, would be quite the same again.
To fully appreciate the scale of this achievement one must consider Lomachenko’s record going in. The Ukrainian amateur standout had turned over to the pros with ruthless efficiency. Forgoing the traditional route of carving up journeymen, ‘Loma’ fought Orlando Salido for the WBO featherweight title in his second pro fight. He lost that one on a highly-controversial split decision. In his third bout, he beat the underrated Gary Russell Jr to capture the same title. With a record of just 2-1, boxing had its latest and perhaps greatest champion.
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From there, ‘The Matrix’ consumed big names like a vast black hole. Roman Martinez’s WBO super featherweight title was annexed in five brutal rounds. Promising former champion Nicholas Walters was pounded into retirement in seven sessions. The formerly-invincible likes of Guillermo Rigondeauz and Jorge Linares were knocked out too, the latter netting Lomachenko the WBA and The Ring lightweight belts.
Lomachenko even absorbed Linares’ liking for taking out the best of British boxing. Anthony Crolla was knocked out in four while Luke Campbell was outclassed over the 12-round distance. Lomachenko’s 14-1 record has been gilded with 14 world title fights. In the post-Floyd Mayweather world, ‘Loma’ was the pound-for-pound king.
Until he wasn’t. Three years ago today, Lopez made good on his early-career promise. Lopez had captured the IBF title in his previous fight with a vicious two-round destruction of Richard Commey. But it still felt like a Lomachenko fight had come too soon. That the vast experience and supernatural skill of the Ukrainian would be too much for a young fighter who hadn’t yet seen enough to cope with it.
But Lopez didn’t just cope, he thrived. Lomachenko was slow out of the blocks and Lopez seized upon it. By the time the unified champion found his old rhythm, those very titles were already almost gone. Lopez ran through the book of boxing. Slips, feints, jabs, rights, body, head. It was as complete a performance as we were used to from ‘Loma’, but he was on the receiving end of it for once. At the end of 12 rounds, a unanimous decision in Lopez’s favour was the only fair result. Thankfully, the boxing gods got this one right. A controversy-free night for the rickety old sport.
But this was only the start of a frenetic time in the 135-pound class. In his next fight, Lopez went from underdog to overwhelming favourite when he took on Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. The bout was a mandatory intended to set the table for either a Lomachenko rematch or a fight with unbeaten WBC king Devin Haney. But Lopez underperformed while Kambosos entered the display of a lifetime. While Lopez argued with his trainer-father in the corner over strategy, ‘Ferocious’ built an unassailable lead, even sending ‘Takeover’ to the canvas. Kambosos himself rose from a knockdown in the 10th round but held on and took home a deserved split decision and three-quarters of the lightweight crown. In back-to-back fights, the lightweight title had changed hands in shocking fashion.
Kambosos took Lopez’s place against Haney, losing a pair of unanimous nods to ‘The Dream’ on home soil in Australia. Were it not for a rematch clause, a modern boxing trapping that is becoming unavoidable, Haney’s dominance in the first fight would have rendered a second moot. But the 24-year-old was able to thoroughly excel over 24 rounds to take and keep the undisputed lightweight championship.
Closing our circle, Haney defeated Lomachenko by unanimous decision in May, solidifying himself as one of the best fighters on the planet today. ‘The Matrix’ had won three fights since the Lopez reverse to get back into contention, but Haney was a fractional level above across 12 rounds.
Of our protagonists, it is most unsure where Lomachenko goes next. Once the best in the world, he has now lost his last two major title fights. Kambosos has got back into the win column, beating Britain’s Maxi Hughes for the minor IBO title. Haney and Lopez are walking similar paths. Teofimo moved up to light welterweight and beat Josh Taylor for the WBO and The Ring titles. Haney is following him, with a fight in the schedule against WBC champion Regis Prograis.
Back at lightweight there is still plenty of interest. Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia had one of the biggest pay-per-view fights of the year in a non-title bout. ‘Tank’ knocked out ‘KingRy’ in seven rounds in that barnburner. Surely Davis is in line if Haney re-emerges at the weight.
While many other weightclasses fail to get their best fighters in the ring together, the lightweight division has enjoyed a veritable flurry of recent activity. It all kicked off three years ago today, with the ramifications of Lopez’s win over Lomachenko still being keenly felt in the present day.
