Full unification of titles is getting closer. Everything about Lomachenko's London victory over Campbell

Vasyl achieved an interim goal by routing a bigger opponent.

On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Vasyl Lomachenko fought in London for the first time as a professional, and his debut was successful. After experiencing some difficulties during the bout, Vasyl adjusted to the bigger opponent and routed him. Although Luke Campbell was on the verge of an early defeat several times, the fight lasted all 36 minutes and ended in a confident victory for the favorite, with scores of 119-108 and 118-109 in favor of the champion.

Lomachenko achieved an interim goal

It is no secret that the world's best boxer has in recent years been driven by a desire to unify the division. In the featherweight and super featherweight divisions this did not work out due to a conflict between promoters, which prevented organizing fights with other champions. But after moving up to lightweight, Hi-Tek's efforts in this direction began to pay off.

Initially there was still hope that the title of undisputed champion would be decided in a megafight with Mikey Garcia, but the American gave up his titles and changed weight. The IBF belt was won by Richard Commey, and the situation with the WBC title went a different way. Instead of the next-ranked contender, mandatory challenger Luke Campbell was assigned as the opponent of WBO and WBA champion Vasyl Lomachenko, whose letter about his "cherished dream" so moved the council's leadership that they decided to disregard the applications of Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.

Either way, Lomachenko got the chance to win his third champion title at lightweight in just his fourth fight in this category, and he took advantage of that opportunity. The confident away win brought him not only a new title, but also marketing appeal in England along with the record purse of his career.

Working victory

Despite the visual ease of Lomachenko's win, this fight was no walk in the park. The first third of the bout was a competitive, close fight where rounds could have gone to either fighter. Judging by the judges' final scorecards, that night the unspoken rule that even rounds go to the champion outweighed the British tradition of awarding everything possible and impossible to the local fighter.

Everything developed according to a predictable script. At the start Lomachenko sized up his opponent and studied him in practice, after which he began to ramp up the pace.

According to CompuBox statistics, Lomachenko clearly outlanded his opponent: 211 punches landed out of 527 thrown, versus 131 landed out of 420 for Campbell. Notably, after the first six rounds there was no such significant advantage, with 71 accurate punches versus 58. The statistics confirm the visual impression, in which Lomachenko, although he controlled the course of the fight practically every second, began to pull away from his opponent only after the midpoint.

Luke had good moments too. The best of them came in the seventh round, when the Briton caught the champion coming forward with snapping left hooks to the body. Lomachenko felt the blow, chose to hang on to his opponent, and after recovering paid him back with interest, finishing the round with active combination punching.

Before the championship rounds Vasyl slowed the pace, and it seemed the fight would calmly go to the scorecards. However, in the 11th round Hi-Tek shook his opponent, and after a prolonged combination to different levels Luke was forced to take a knee. The situation repeated in the final three-minute round: the Briton was shaken again, but to avoid falling he grabbed Lomachenko's legs and executed a takedown. In fact, this saved him from at least a knockdown, and possibly an early stoppage.

What the opponent surprised with

Before the fight, many called Luke Campbell a boxer who had everything needed to become the most difficult opponent for the Ukrainian champion.

First, Luke is a very big fighter, and Lomachenko has had the greatest problems with larger opponents. Both Jorge Linares and José Pedraza exceeded Vasyl in height, frame and reach. Second, the Briton is well trained in using his physical attributes, as evidenced by a collection of the most prestigious amateur awards, including victory at the European Championships, silver at the World Championships and triumph at the home Olympic Games in London.

Vasyl was uncomfortable getting into a convenient distance for landing power punches, but very quickly he managed to set up the jab, which became the cornerstone of the Ukrainian's victory.

However, Luke surprised not with his size. In the Briton's camp they did excellent homework, and there was room for prepared moves. Campbell practically did not hunt the head of the elusive opponent, preferring to work the body. Probably it was the effect of such actions by the challenger that forced Lomachenko to slow the pace in rounds 8-9, and in the seventh a counter right hook to the liver even shook the Ukrainian.  

Of course, Luke did not do enough to win. For that he needed to act more actively and save several more surprises just in case. However, he deserves credit for at least occasionally making the fight competitive and not giving up until the very end.

The future of Vasyl Lomachenko

Based on the Ukrainian's goal, it is obvious that his team will work hard toward fully unifying the titles. Very soon Lomachenko may become only the fifth undisputed champion to unify four belts at once.

In December IBF lightweight world champion Richard Commey will defend his title against controversial prospect Teofimo Lopez, and probably already in the first half of 2020 the winner will step into the ring with Vasyl. Fortunately, there should be no problems organizing such a fight, as all parties have good working relations with promoter Bob Arum.  

What next? On one hand, the boxer himself says that he could then end his career with a clear conscience, but on the other, his hands would be untied. He could choose the fights he wants without wasting time and the resources of his body on bouts with mandatory challengers and other imposed opponents. 

It could be a super lightweight bout and an attempt to become champion in a fourth weight class. But a return to 130 pounds looks far more likely, where he was noticeably more comfortable than he is now at lightweight. A fight could be organized there with Jervonta Davis, Miguel Berchelt and Leo Santa Cruz. Any of these bouts would cause a real furor in the boxing world, bring in box office money and strengthen the boxer's legacy. Another question is whether Vasyl Lomachenko will still have motivation once his goal of absolute championship has been achieved.

Alexander Medvedev