Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko retained his WBO super featherweight belt in style on Saturday.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was in dominant form. Showcasing astounding footwork, speed and movement, Lomachenko made a big statement by forcing his second straight opponent to quit before the final bell.
A tough challenger, Jason Sosa was game throughout. In truth though, there was little in his arsenal to trouble arguably the most skilled active fighter in the world today.
Quick off the mark, Lomachenko was able to land punches in bunches which Sosa had little option but to absorb.
By round three damage was clearly visible to the challenger. Lomachenko’s accurate combinations had caused visible swelling to Sosa’s eyes.
Growing increasingly more desperate, Sosa ended the fifth by trash talking his rival. Quick to return the favour, Lomachenko began the sixth by playing matador and avoiding his opponent’s clumsy offense.
As the rounds progressed Lomachenko followed up on his showboating with accurate body shots.
With no end to the punishment in sight an early stoppage felt inevitable. HBO’s Compubx statistics had Lomachenko connecting with 58% of his power shots compared to 29% for Sosa.
By the end of the ninth round Sosa’s corner had seen enough. His trainer (and father) took matters into his own hands and signalled an end to the contest for the over matched fighter.
The result sees Lomachenko’s record progress to 8-1 (6 KOs) with the sky seemingly the limit for the southpaw superstar.
After turning in such a dazzling display, Lomachenko’s days of being perennial avoided appear over. His promoter Bob Arum was quick to declare that, ‘right now, Lomachenko has shown the style and a skill [of] nobody I’ve seen ever other than the Ali.’
With Lomachenko seemingly on the brink of becoming boxing’s next money man, intriguing opportunities have begun to present themselves.
Talk has begun to surface of potential super fights against the likes of Terence Crawford and Mikey Garcia.
First up though it appears that Lomachenko’s manager wants to match him against Manchester’s own Terry Flanagan, fresh off an impressive win himself this weekend.
Of course in boxing nothing is ever simple so we’ll have to watch this space.
Following his latest victory, who do you think Lomachenko should face next?