Vasily Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) administered a beating to his over-matched opponent Masayoshi Nakatani (19-2, 13 KOs) in stopping him in the ninth round in their main event fight at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The fight was halted at 1:48 of the ninth.
The former three-division world champion Lomachenko, 33, knocked Nakatani down in the fifth and then gave methodical pounding until the contest was halted in the ninth after he went down to a knee.
Nakatani, 5’11 1/2″, was never able to use his height and reach against the southpaw Lomachenko, as he easily dodged his right hand power shots.
Nakatani’s only success was when he was throwing body shots, which he was able to land, but they did nothing to hold Lomachenko off.
Nakatani showed heart in staying on his feet to survive the sixth round because he was getting pummeled by Lomachenko. The Japanese warrior was getting hit by everything but the kitchen sink by Lomachenko, but he stayed in there bravely.
This was an important victory for the two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko. He looked great in coming back from a 12 round unanimous decision in his previous fight against Teofimo Lopez.
What’s more important is the message that Lomachenko sent by dominating Nakatani in a much better fashion than we saw from Teofimo Lopez in 2019. Teofimo had many problems beating Nakatani, even though the scorecards handed down by the judges in that fight were wide in his favor.
“All the strategies that we developed with my team [were successful],” said Lomachenko after the fight.
“I reached all my goals. I won, and now I’m back on track. Everybody saw how I won this fight, and everybody is waiting for the rematch [with Teofimo Lopez], so let’s make a rematch.
“He has a fight in the future with [George] Kambosos, but how about after? In the beginning of next year. December, January, February? I am waiting. I’m happy about this if they are ready to give me a rematch after all I’ve done after this fight. I am happy about this opportunity,” said Lomachenko.
Undercard results:
- Bantamweight Luis Fernando Saavedra (9-6, 3 KOs) beat favorite Robert Rodriguez (9-1-1, 5 KOs) by a six round unanimous decision. The scores were 59-55, 60-54, 60-54.
- Unbeaten bantamweight prospect Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz (2-0, 0 KOs) kept his perfect record inactive with a four round unanimous decision over Jaime Jasso (2-1, 0 KOs). The judge’s scores were 40-36, 40-36, 40-36.
- Heavyweight prospect Guido Vianello (8-0-1, 8 KOs) destroyed a badly overmatched Marlon Williams (6-2, 3 KOs) by a first round knockout. Williams his the deck on three separate occasions in the first round, courtesy of Vianello’s big power shots. The bout was stopped after the round ended, which is a good thing because Williams might have gotten hurt if he’d come out for the second round.
- Super bantamweight Subaru Murata defeated Keven Monroy (1-1, 1 KO) by a second round knockout. Murata knocked down Monroy in the second round. Referee Russell Mora then halted the contest. The time of the stoppage was 1:42 of the second.
- Unbeaten 135-lb prospect DeMichael Harris (4-0, 4 KOs) stopped journeyman Jonatan Hernan Godoy (5-9, 0 KOs) by a third round retirement. Godoy opted not to come out for the fourth round. Harris, 24, knocked Godoy down three times in the fight.