I don’t want to be ranked in a better position because someone else failed.”
—Vasyl Lomachenko
He wears the colors of Yellow and Blue, which makes him Green but empty of Envy. But oh, are his skills sublime and worthy of it.
After nearly 400 amateur fights while besting his lone conqueror twice, Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5KOs) is a gloved (and beloved) anomaly that would love to fight Orlando Salido at least twice.
To save himself the embarrassment of Hell in a roped cage of revenge, Salido asked for the sky in purse (a million dollars). Jezreel Corrales just simply said, “No.”
No longer anything close to green as a pro still just eight fights in, the former WBO featherweight champion and reigning WBO super featherweight champion saunters into the new MGM National Harbor tonight (HBO 10 p.m. ET) to defend his title against an awestruck Jason Sosa.
“He’s the closest thing to perfection in boxing,” submitted Sosa, who only had 3 amateur fights and virtually gave up a title to take this fight.
Or to put it more succinctly, to win as a result of losing.
For what its worth, the last time someone of Lomachenko’s artistry graced Maryland was in 1979. That fighter’s name was Sugar Ray Leonard. It was also the last time HBO did a show in Maryland.
Lomachenko, a mesmerizing ensemble of speed and creativity with power from the southpaw stance, can probably be characterized as a Thelonious Monk version of Manny Pacquiao. In rap terms, he’s incredible music with a bass-line that you just cannot rap to. Mikhail Baryshnikov featuring violent ballet.
Nicholas Walters entered the ring against Lomachenko last November, and did so as a very dangerous fighter with enough power to KO a fighter who seemed to be of artificial intelligence. He left, as if a fighter with a mind that had gone through a washing machine full of hallucinogens.
The quotation above came from Lomachenko after some believe him to be the world’s best fighter following Gennady Golovkin’s close encounter with Daniel Jacobs. All of a sudden, Jason Sosa looks like a kite dancing in a hurricane.
