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Vasyl Lomachenko vs Nicholas Walters Box Nation Coverage
Tough battle ahead of Vasyl Lomachenko as he faces Nicholas Walters Saturday written by: Lind1988 Fast rising boxer Vasyl Lomachenko is training at the Top Rank Gym ahead of his junior lightweight bout with Nicholas Walters. The Ukranian will on Saturday night face the Jamaican at the Chelsea Theater in Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas.
28 year old Lomachenko will be seeking to defend his WBO junior lightweight title against the Caribbean puncher. He won the title in June this year after knocking out Puerto Rican boxer Roman Martinez at the Madison Square Garden Theater.
The Ukranian has already wowed the media and all those present at the Top Rank Gym where he is training with his unique set of skills. In one display, he bounced on the canvas with his fists and then punched a tennis ball hanging off his head to the amazement of all those watching. He is training and the watchful eyes of his father Anatoly who has been is coach ever since his amateur boxing days.
Comparison to Muhammad Ali
Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum has compared him to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali ahead of his faceoff with 30 year old Walters. Arum has said that Lomachenko’s technical skills are only comparable to those of the late boxing ace.
Will Lomachenko live up to his promoter’s comparison?
He has already been described as a boxer with skills akin to those of Muhammad Ali. Now, what many are wondering is whether Lomachenko will bring out the truth in those words when he faces Walters Saturday.
Lomachenko may be a skilled boxer but the Saturday contest against Walters will certainly not be an easy ride for him. Walters is not any ordinary boxer, he is one of the best talents in boxing. At (26-0-1, 21KOs), he will come into the ring as an undefeated boxer and also one with a knockout percentage of 81 percent. These figures certainly show that he is not an ordinary opponent but one against whom one must bring out his A game in order to triumph.
In addition to the significance of his near perfect statistics, Walters will be seeking to knock out Lomachenko by every means. Earlier in the year, Walters rejected a $550,000 offer to fight Lomachenko. He said the money wasn’t enough plus the odds would be against him. He explained that the judges definitely weren’t going to give him a decision win over the Ukranian and so the only option he had left would be to try and knock him out. This is likely to be his intention still when he faces Lomachenko Saturday. Hi-Tech certainly won’t have it easy.
What is Lomachenko bringing into the ring?
Just like Lomachenko won’t have it easy against Walters, the Caribbean pugilist also has to brace himself for a teeth grinding duel at the Chelsea Theater. His Ukranian opponent will be coming into the ring with skills enough to send him on the canvas as early as the fifth round.
Lomachenko is a lethal puncher and he is swift with his hands as well as his feet. With this set of unique skills, he is likely to knock out an opponent who is not quick to rain counter punches on him and who is also not witty enough to evade his punches. Walters must be on high alert when he faces Lomachenko and must also keep coming at him in order to escape an early knockout or a knockout in general.
Lomachenko may not have had a lengthy stint in professional boxing yet but his statistics speak for themselves. He has 6 wins out of 7 fights and 4 of these have been by knockout. His knockout percentage stands at 67% which isn’t bad considering that he has only had a few profession fights.
Lomachenko has however had a lengthy amateur carry where he fought in close to 400 matches winning majority of them. His numerous amateur matches have definitely served to give him enough experience within the ring.
Proving critics wrong
In addition to everything, Lomachenko will be seeking to prove his critics wrong when he faces Walters on Saturday night. This will certainly motivate him to win over Walters. Some have argued that his past opponents have not been tough enough and thus the reason for his easy wins. Walters on the other hand is viewed as an opponent worth facing the someone who is claimed to be among the world’s best boxers. Lomachenko will likely try by every means to defeat Walters and prove to his critics that he is indeed the top boxer he is hailed as. Let’s see how everything pans out Saturday.
