By now you've heard there's a new sheriff in the 135 pound boxing rankings and his name is Teofimo Lopez. Lots of people outside boxing won't recognize the name but that's about to change as he's taken over the division and is looking to step up to a higher weight where he says he's more comfortable. Many viewers mentioned he did look bigger than Lomachenko -- true, but not so much.
Just as impressive as Lopez' domination of the fight was the viewer count approached three million. This occurs even while NFL game viewers has declined by 8 or 10 percent, depending on whose numbers you use.
Equally impressive was Bob Arum's announcement before the fight that the broadcast on ESPN would be absolutely free. This was both a smart and generous move on Arum's part.
It was also good for the sport. Lopez was the 4 to 1 underdog and it seemed for a while that, amongst all my boxing buddies, that only me and Floyd Mayweather Jr. picked Lopez to win. Okay, I'm exaggerating because there was Lopez' dad too. And his mom?
I wasn't entirely solid in my pick -- I didn't think it would go the distance. I did however pick Lopez because I'd watched him before and noticed a little known fact. Lopez is known as a killer puncher having knocked out nearly all of his opponents but I noticed he could box too. Even more do I appreciate that he's the type of throwback guy who will fight anyone among the new crop of New Generation Boxers.
I don't want to throw shade on Sergei Lomachenko -- he's a great boxer with an interesting arsenal. None of it was working in the Lopez fight as many observers thought he was too idle in the early going and didn't get started until it was too late and his only chance would be for a knockout.
Both fighters showed good chins so that didn't become an issue. However, it must be recognized that this was a big upset.
I want to say also that my pick of Lopez wasn't simply because I liked him; it was also because Loma had become something of a sacred cow. Even more galling to me was that celebrity sportswriters like Stephen Smith and Max Kellerman were always expounding about how Loma was "special." Special, special, special, I heard it a hundred times.
I don't like sacred cows. This is boxing where no one is special and the king is always dead. Who was Buster Douglas? Who was Cassius Clay in the first Sonny Liston fight?
Congrats to Teofimo Lopez and Bob Arum. It's interesting to note that there was no rematch clause in the contract signed. I'm good with that. The reason for no rematch was that Loma's team was completely certain their guy would win and so there was no reason to put it in the contract. They didn't even expect it to be close.
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