Lomachenko at the Garden?... LET'S FUCKING GO!
The amount of fight cards this weekend is overwhelming, with a lot of big-name fighters (who also happen to be big favorites) boxing on all platforms.
I will try to watch them all, but I will only be live for one… Tonight, in Madison Square Garden, former unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) is taking on ex-IBF champion Richard Commey (30-3, 27 KOs).
This Top Rank card starts right after the Heisman Ceremony and will be broadcast FOR FREE on ESPN and on ESPN+.
The first fight of the night features a highly promoted prospect with an incredibly familiar grandfather… Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (2-0, 2 KOs), the grandson of Muhammad Ali, takes on another inexperienced fighter named Reyes Sanchez (6-0) in a bout scheduled for only 8 rounds.
I sat down with Nico earlier this week for The Thirteenth Round… Great kid… And that interview is attached above.
Top Rank is also featuring 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (3-0) who is set to make his promotional debut under 90-year-old Bob Arum when he takes on Jose Zaragova (8-3-1), AND one of the hottest heavyweight prospects, Jarred Anderson (10-0, 10 KOs), is on the card in a featured bout against Oleksandr Teslenko (17-1, 13 KOs).
That last one, I am taking Anderson and the over on 3.5 Rounds… Jared will knock him out, but Teslenko seems like a 5 round fighter to me.
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So after paying an exorbitant amount of money for questionable PPV matchups in 2020, there is plenty of good boxing on this evening FREE OF CHARGE…
Thank you, Top Rank.
Now, let’s take a look at that Main Event.
I am a Vasiliy Lomachenko simp. It broke my heart when I called the upset last year against Teofimo, but I always felt Loma was better suited for 130 than he is at 135, so a big lightweight like Lopez could win… I was right, but I was also heartbroken.
I still feel that Loma should be fighting at 130, but nobody listens to me… Particularly Ukrainians.
(For the record, before you think I am being cocky, I was fucking DEAD WRONG thinking Teo would have an easy night against Kambosos last month, and now my Sportsbook account needs to be reloaded)
Since the loss to Lopez in October 2020, Loma has racked up a 9th Round TKO of Masayoshi Nakatani in June before heading into a matchup tonight against a challenger who is a better puncher than Nakatani but was knocked-the-fuck out by Teofimo in the second round of their fight in 2019.
That knockout occurred when both Lopez and Commey threw big right hands simultaneously, with Teo’s landing right on the button only a millisecond before Commey’s could reach its target.
Commey is in another pickle tonight.
He's overmatched as a boxer versus Lomachenko, but also can't take too many early chances as a puncher because if he gets dispatched early by Vasiliy, he'll be quickly relegated from "contender" to "stepping stone" in a division littered with contenders.
Which makes me like the OVER once again.
Lomachenko is notorious for his slow starts… Particularly in his fight versus Teofimo. So if you have a cautious Commey and a patient Lomachenko, then doesn't it stand to reason this bullfight will go deep into the championship rounds?
PLUS… Commey has three losses on his record, but only one was by KO (the aforementioned loss to Teofimo who is a harder puncher than Loma)… The other 2 were split decisions, so this guy arguably has a habit of going the distance in his losses.
SO my bet tonight will be Loma and the over 8.5 Rounds…
Apparently, I just invited myself into The Overs Club… But I won't hold my breath for the free jacket.
Enjoy the fights and take a report.
-Large