Vasyl Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez - FightHub Preview

2020 hasn't been a good year for a lot of things. Sport is one of the main industries that has suffered and crowd dependant sports like boxing have been hit the hardest. However, in all of that doom and gloom, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's probably the biggest light possible in the sport of boxing: the bout between one of the greatest pound for pound boxers to have ever stepped foot on the earth and one of the biggest prospects in the entire sport.

Vasyl Lomachenko will take on Teofimo Lopez for the WBO, WBA & IBF Lightweight championships of the world as one of the world's most exciting athletes takes centre stage. We'll be taking a look at where this fight can be won and lost for both fighters and give our prediction on how we feel the fight will play out.

For Lomachenko, it's the same recipe for how he's won all of his other fights to date: outsmart, outhustle and simply outclass his opponent. The Ukrainian entered the pro ranks with one of the finest amateur records to ever be recorded, as he won an extraordinary 396 bouts from 397 fights, and that one loss he suffered, was avenged twice.

Loma fought for a world title in just his second professional bout and despite suffering a split decision loss at the hands of Orlando Salido, the decision was extremely contentious and he bounced back from that with victory over Garry Russell Jr to win the WBO World Featherweight Title.

Since then, it's been all systems go with Loma picking up four different world titles in two more weight classes with 12 victories and nine stoppage wins coming since that victory over Russell Jr.

The Ukrainian is the much more experienced fighter out of the two and if he is to win this fight which is expected according to the bookies, he needs to use every ounce of that experience. He's built up a reputation as being arguably the slickest boxer on the circuit with his impeccable footwork and lateral movement along with the ability to frustrate fighters not necessarily physically but just as much mentally with his flawless style.

Got Loma to win by decision at 10/11 here!

How do you beat a man who has only ever lost two fights inside of a boxing ring in 412 fights and solve the Lomachenko puzzle? Orlando Salido had the answer, but this is a completely different Vasyl Lomachenko compared to the one he got the decision against.

Lopez though is most certainly no mug. His amateur record was impressive winning the iconic Golden Gloves tournament in 2015 before representing Honduras at the 2016 Olympics at the age of just 19.

The 23-year-old got off to a faultless start to his professional career with 15 wins from his first 15 fights including 12 stoppage victories with his most recent one coming against IBF world champion, Richard Commey.

Two of the biggest advantages Lopez has got over Lomachenko is his size and power. Loma is more of an accumulative puncher who'll break down a fighter whereas Lopez has the one-punch power to switch off his opponents' lights in a second.

Lopez needs to hurt Lomachenko early. He needs the Ukrainian to fear his power early and instil some respect. Loma has been put on his back before, most notably against Jorge Linares, so there is a slight weakness there. His style is all about movement and if Lopez can catch him off balance with a big shot, he could really do some damage to Lomachenko and potentially turn the tables in a fight in which he is expected to be chasing.

Get Lopez to win in rounds 7-12 here at 10/1!

It's a proper 50/50 match up. It's experience vs exuberance. Lomachenko will frustrate Lopez more and more as the fight goes on with his slick style but Lopez will need to land to the body early. Loma thrives off making his opponents quit but there just seems to be something a little different about Lopez.

We talk about Lomachenko frustrating Lopez but if Lopez hurts the Ukrainian and walks through shots, which would usually put most of Lomachenko's opponents away, we could actually see the more experienced of the two become the more frustrated of the two.

However, what we do know for certain this, this fight will answer a lot of unanswered questions and will undoubtedly go down as one of the fights of the year or of the performances of the year by either of the two

FightHub Tip - Fight To Go The Distance - Best priced 4/6 at Sky Bet.