OXON HILL, MD – HBO Boxing held its first ever event in the state of Maryland at the recently opened MGM National Harbor on Saturday, April 8. The card was essentially a showcase of a trio of world-class Ukrainian fighters who happen to currently be some of the best boxers in their respective divisions – with once-beaten 29-year old junior lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko possibly being boxing’s best.
Lomachenko’s countrymen, cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk (12-0, 10 KOs) and lightweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk (13-0, 11 KOs), opened the televised portion of the card.
In the evening’s main event, WBO junior lightweight world champion Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) easily dominated WBA world junior lightweight champion Jason Sosa (20-2, 15 KOs) behind his stockpile of elite level boxing attributes. The mercurial southpaw champion, nicknamed ‘Hi-Tech’, overwhelmed the determined Sosa for 9 rounds of action. From the outset of round one Lomachenko’s footwork, hand-speed, and reflexes allowed him to repeatedly rip off crisp combinations without Sosa being able to land much of anything significant in return.
Towards the end of the round Lomachenko connected with a thudding land hand to Sosa’s body that forced the challenger’s back into the corner. The Ukrainian also battered Sosa over the final minute of the second round.
Sosa responded with a spirited effort in the third round, and managed to catch the champion with a good body shot. However, as Sosa made his way back to his corner after the bell, his badly swollen left eye was indicative of Lomachenko’s success with his right jab.
It was all downhill for the Camden, New Jersey native from that point, as Lomachenko’s brilliant movement and quickness advantage had him lunging to land anything meaningful which constantly left Sosa open to Lomachenko’s combination punching. After enduring another round of the champion’s punishing attack, Sosa brazenly followed Lomachenko halfway back to his corner at the end of round four. He beat on his chest and let out a roar to let the champion know he was still there to compete.
Lomachenko did more speaking with his hands in the fifth round, but Sosa walked down the champion over the final :20, mustering a flurry to regain some confidence. Unfortunately, those signs of life from Sosa enticed Lomachenko to start his own showboating in the subsequent round, and after Sosa pressed him with some wild shot the champion easily evaded, Lomachenko mocked him by motioning at him like a matador. Once the champion put away the cape his brutal body work resumed, and in some subsequent clenches the challenger started to take peeks at his corner to both express his bewilderment and look for reassurance.
Very little changed or improved for Sosa over the next three rounds, and Sosa’s trainer warned him after Round 8 that if he saw anymore prolonged moment’s of domination, he’d have to act in his fighter’s best interest and stop the fight. Sosa responded with, “I’m gonna knock him out!”
The knock-out didn’t come for Sosa, and while the action slowed down somewhat throughout the 9th round, once it concluded Sosa’s chief second kept his word and spared their fighter from any further punishment.
Following the outcome’s official announcement Lomachenko expressed his desire to HBO’s Max Kellerman to move up to 135 pounds and challenge undefeated Mikey Garcia for his WBC world lightweight title, adding that he preferred to do it immediately. The Garcia camp was aware of the challenge because shortly afterwards, the lightweight title holder’s Instagram account featured a post that welcomed the magnificent bout.
The HBO on-air team – Kellerman, Jim Lampley, Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, and long-time unofficial scorer Harold Lederman – repeatedly discussed Lomachenko as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter throughout his performance. They remained emphatic about his supremacy atop the fictional P4P standing at the conclusion of his fight – to the chagrin of both unbeaten and 30-plus win fighters Andre Ward and Gennady Golovkin. A fight with the bigger Garcia is a great match up for fight fans, and Lomachenko’s willingness to make the fight is the type of audacious move that’s rare in the sport.
Unfortunately, it takes fans farther away from a coveted showdown with another special fighter such as fellow brilliant tactician WBA/WBO world super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. A move towards lightweight also puts greater distance between a rematch with WBC world featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr, or a junior lightweight unification bout with the undefeated and newly-crowned IBF world champion Gervonta Davis – an evolving explosive power-puncher.
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Similar to his capabilities in the ring, Lomachenko can make any move he wants to, and it’s likely to work out fine for the southpaw. But, at just 9 professional bouts, why be in a rush to go up into the heavier divisions where it’s questionable whether his power punching will travel? Forcing Sosa to retire during the break between rounds was great. The same with previous opponent Nicholas Walters. The thing is, boxing fans are never satisfied, and eventually these masterful wins by technical knockout could actually produce some complaints.
Complaining about a potentially era defining-caliber P4P fighter not winning by knockout might seem crass. Nevertheless, in addition to the knockout ostensibly being the most favorable way to end a bout per the late Emanuel Steward, based on some of the game’s recent high-profile controversial decisions, the knockout is sure-fire way to avoid today’s troublesome judging. Perhaps while in the prime year’s of his career Lomachenko’s massive skill set advantage will keep him pitching shutouts. If not, there are always rematch clauses to try to enforce.
Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (13-0, 11 KOs) retained his NABF light heavyweight title against Yunieski Gonzalez (18-3, 14 KOs), and quickly turned a competitive looking fight into a one-sided beat down for the nimble, precision-punching Ukrainian.
Gvozdyk personified his nickname as he managed to constantly nail the over-matched Gonzalez with his entire arsenal, achieving an unbelievably high accuracy rate over the fight’s three rounds. Gvozdyk utilized his multi-directional movement to evade most of Gonzalez’s single-shot attempts to control or end the fight with a lone big punch. The Ukrainian also varied the power of his jab, at times using it to control his desired range while at others using it to set up crunching combinations. Gvozdyk’s uppercut also began landing in the latter part of round two where he felt more comfortable mixing it up in closer quarters.
Gvozdyk’s footwork presented even greater problems for the Cuban in the third round. He began catching Gonzalez after changing direction after moving both left and right. The build up of the Ukranian’s combination punching had Gonzalez hurt many times in round three and a knock down soon resulted from a Gvozdyk right hand.
Gonzalez got up quickly but was sent to the canvas a second time shortly afterwards. He was determined to continue on but he was too impaired to defend himself against Gvozdyk’s free-swinging attack – CompuBox credited Gvozdyk with landing 50-of-66 power punches in the round. As he fell to his knees, with blood leaking badly from his nose, referee Harvey Dock initiated the 10-count but a member of Gonzalez’s quickly got the attention of Dock to end the fight at 2:55.
Gvozdyk’s performance was impressive and the win also added the vacant WBO NABO light heavyweight title to his accomplishments. With WBC world light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson opting to counter the recently announced Ward-Kovalev June 17th rematch with his own rematch versus Andrzej Fonfara in Quebec, Canada on June 3rd, maybe an all-action fight with WBC International light heavyweight champion Joe Smith, Jr. works to elevate both fighters’ standing. Or, maybe Gvozdyk could face undefeated contender Marcus Browne, a fighter that could also be looking at a prolonged layoff waiting for his first world title shot.
Oleksandr Usyk (12-0, 10 KOs) punished challenger Michael Hunter (12-1, 8 KOs) over the second half of their 12-round fight to earn a unanimous decision. A game Hunter remained surprisingly busy over the first third of the fight, despite his last fight being nearly a year ago, but lighter arm punches failed to fend the champion off beyond the fourth or fifth round.
Usyk punished Hunter’s body and fired away with head shots over the final four rounds looking to close the show. Hunter’s right hand largely disappeared in the champion rounds, and Usyk moved in to attempt to start a new stoppage streak, but he failed to fully capitalize on a standing 8-count referee Bill Clancy issued a badly hurt Hunter in the 12th.
Usyk’s failure to stop Hunter – following 6-7 rounds of steady punishment – might portend the effectiveness of the Ukrainian’s power if he elects to move to heavyweight to pursue one of the sports most prestigious titles. If last night’s fight gives any pause to Usyk and his team regarding going up in weight, the cruiserweight division’s other champions still present some interesting match ups.
The DMV – D.C., Maryland, Virginia – has itself an exciting new venue for high level boxing in the MGM National Harbor. Vasyl Lomachenko’s star only gets brighter with his stellar performance, coupled with his huge public challenge to Mikey Garcia. Oleksndr Gvozdyk’s knockout propels his name firmly into the mix in a relatively deep light heavyweight division. Oleksndr Usyk’s performance may not keep him on pace with the rise of his two countrymen, but he held onto his “0”, and that goes a long way in this era. We’ll see where this talented group of Ukrainians goes next, but put money on Gvozdyk and Usyk having a far easier time getting a signature on the next contract.
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