Vasyl Lomachenko posted a video of him training on Tuesday for what could be his next fight against Masayoshi Nakatani in the summer at lightweight. The former three-division world champion Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) is said to be fighting on June 26th or July 10th against Nakatani (19-1, 13 KOs).
Top Rank hasn’t made the date of the fight official yet, but there should be something soon.
There’s no word yet whether the Lomachenko vs. Nakatani fight will be a lightweight title eliminator. It would make sense for it to be one.
This will be the first fight back for the 33-year-old Lomachenko since his loss to Teofimo Lopez last October on ESPN pay-per-view.
Lomachenko will be under a microscope
Boxing fans will be looking at Lomachenko closely for signs of slippage when he takes on Nakatani. Some fans believe Lomachenko is over-the-hill because of the way he failed to let his hands go in the first six rounds.
Lomachenko wanted a rematch to try and avenge his loss, but Teofimo said, “What for?” Instead, Teofimo is taking on his mandatory George Kambosos Jr, possibly in June, and after that, he plans on fighting WBC 135-lb champion Devin Haney.
The only way Lomachenko will get a rematch with Teofimo is if he’s made mandatory to one of the belts that he holds, and even then, it’s not a certainty.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko would be the first to tell you that he wasn’t at his best for the Lopez fight, partly due to a shoulder injury that he had.
Further, Lomachenko failed to let his hands go in the first six rounds while downloading information on how to beat Teofimo.
Once Loma figured Teofimo out, he battered him throughout the second half of the fight and made it look surprisingly easy.
Masayoshi Nakatani coming off a career-best win
Nakatani stopped Felix Verdejo in the ninth round last December in a fight shown on ESPN in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was one of the best fights of the year, as the 5’11” Nakatani had to rise off the deck twice in getting dropped in the first and fourth rounds. In the ninth, Nakatani took out a weary Verdejo after dropping him two times.
Before that contest, Nakatani lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in 2019.
It was a good fight with the way that Nakatani forced Lopez out of his comfort zone, and him visibly upset at his inability to dominate the way he’d grown accustomed to.
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