Lomachenko Gets Dropped, But Then Stops Linares
By Luis Cadiz
Photos: "Sugar" Ray Bailey
I had a flashback moment at Madison Square Garden tonight
when the arena's sound system blasted the 90's hugely
popular song "Jump Around". Many memories came rushing back
to mind but this humongous hip - hop hit would hold a couple
of parallel story lines with tonight's main event at the
Garden. Jorge "El Niño de Oro" Linares was defending his
W.B.A. Lightweight title for the fourth time against top
pound for pound ranked boxer and challenger Vasyl "Hi-Tech"
Lomachenko. The group responsible for the widely recognized
tune was "House of Pain", exactly what the Mecca of boxing
became tonight, a literal house of pain as both champion and
challenger would visit the canvas, Lomachenko for the first
time in his career. Then these two short yet precise lyrical
lines sum up the gladiator mentality that these two fighters
brought to the ring; "I came to win. Battle me that's a
sin." Read on to find out who committed the earthly sin and
paid the ultimate price.
12 Rounds - W.B.A. Lightweight World Title
Vasyl "Hi-Tech" Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KO's) vs. Jorge "El Niño
de Oro" Linares (44-3, 27 KO's)
Round one was probably the round with the least action but
the most tension as you notice both fighters intensely
sizing each other up. Now if power is destructive and speed
kills, throw in angles and it becomes a lethal combination.
Lomachenko mixes all three elements and in rounds two
through four he puzzles and pounds Linares with clean shots.
Let me make it perfectly clear, the defending champ Jorge
Linares was trying to decipher the enigma he had in front of
him, to the side of him... Lomachenko was everywhere.
In rounds five and six, the challenger was staying in the
pocket and dictating the pace with blows from all angles.
Frustration was evident in Linares's face and actions as he
took a second warning for low blows in the sixth round.
Then the unexpected, in round seven Linares interrupts the
onslaught with a straight right that sent the "Hi-Tech" on
to the canvas for the very first time in his career. Vasyl
Lomachenko took the knock down in stride but was more
defensive for the first half of round eight, getting back
into his rhythm for the remaining time of the round to
finish strong.
In rounds nine and ten, war was waged as both fighters were
connecting viciously, Linares doing so cut, battered and
bruised while Lomachenko was unleashing with fury. But round
ten would prove to be too much for the defending champ as he
buckled and broke under the pressure, Lomachenko sealing the
victory a lethal left to the body. The end came at 2:08 of
Round 10.
Vasyl Lomachenko gets the TKO win and improves to 11-1 with
9 KOs and in the process shattered the all-time boxing
record for fewest fights needed to win a world title in
three weight divisions. Jorge Linares falls to 44-4 with 27
KOs but has nothing to be ashamed of, as he gave the well
over 10,000 strong crowd, largely Ukrainian like Lomachenko,
a fight to remember.
In the post press conference both fighters expressed their
desire to face each other again in a re-match. If the deal
for the re-match gets done, the fans will have more than
enough reason to "jump around".
10 Rounds - Welterweight
Alejandro Barrera (27-4, 17 KO's) vs. Carlos Adames (13-0,
11 KO's)
There wasn't much of a "feel out" process in the first
couple of rounds of this bout. Carlos Adames was clearly the
aggressor while Alejandro Barrera would apply pressure in
spots, while moving in retreat. The third round was a better
round for Barrera as he was able to land some of his
combinations and somewhat deter Adames's assault.
Great give and take action in the fourth and fifth rounds,
Adames getting the better of the exchanges as he connected
more cleanly on Barrera's anatomy. To Barrera's credit, he
came to fight and he looked for his spots to land his shots
on Adames in the sixth and seventh rounds.
A solid overhand right to the head of Barrera would set the
pace for Adames in round eight. Both battled with the will
to win in rounds nine and ten, but Carlos Adames would prove
the victor with cleaner, more precise combinations. Carlos
Adames improves his record to 14-0 with 11 KOs with the
unanimous decision win.
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