Wow. Nobody expected this. Teofimo Lopez is the new undisputed, unified lightweight champion of the world. The Brooklyn-native is the first fighter to successfully bring the four belts together. Furthermore, he did it by beating the man that many people regarded as the pound-for-pound number one in the world.

It was an incredible performance but not the one that fans imagined because nobody thought that he would outclass Loma. But that is exactly what the former Honduran Olympian did. In short, it was expected that he would need to knock the Ukrainian star out early or else Lomachenko would take control of the fight.

Lomachenko is famed for his ridiculous fight IQ and incredible footwork. However, he took far too long to get into this fight and left himself too much to do. In the end, the judges gave Lopez a unanimous decision win. Check out this incredible result below.

Early Lead

This was an unbelievable display from Lopez because he demonstrated maturity. Lomachenko is a famously slow starter so most people didn’t think much of the fact that he didn’t do much in the first three rounds. However, it soon became clear that he was struggling to establish his game. Lopez’s length and vaunted power made it difficult for him to get a read on the American.

Meanwhile, Lopez was happy to control Lomachenko with his jab and then land hard shots to the body. You could make a case that Lomachenko won the second round but otherwise, the remaining rounds up until seven were extremely frustrating for fans of ‘The Matrix.’

Wake-Up

Both men’s trainers are also their fathers. Anatoly Lomachenko is not stupid and knew that his son was losing this fight. He urgently told him to take risks and get inside. Then round eight saw Lomachenko spark into life. He began to land his shots and put Lopez under severe pressure. This was suddenly a real fight and the entertainment factor also rose as a result.

Lomachenko won rounds eight through to 11. That eleventh round was particularly exciting because Lopez was clearly tired. ‘Hi-tech’ knew that he needed a knockdown but he couldn’t find it. Andre Ward had the fight scored even for both men going into the final round, but that was extremely generous for Lomachenko. Even so, Lopez made sure of his win with an incredible display of heart and determination.

He caught a second win and stepped up a gear to take over the final round. Nobody could doubt that he had done enough. But of course, boxing judges are notoriously terrible. However, even they couldn’t ruin an amazing night and Lopez took the unanimous decision.

A Star is Born

Finally, it looks like boxing has a new star. Lopez is an undisputed champion, that rarest of things in boxing, and should be a big draw with his exciting style. His gameplan under his father Teofimo Sr. was masterful. We’ve never seen Lomachenko struggle as he did for the first half of the fight.

Where does Lomachenko go from here? This wasn’t his night but he has more to give. He will probably go back down a division because fighting bigger men is clearly more of a struggle for him. However, this night will hurt more than any because he lost the opportunity to put a stamp on his legacy.

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