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The Official TSS Lomachenko-Lopez Prediction Page

Saturday’s match between Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez at the MGM Grand “Bubble” is the most-talked-about fight since Wilder-Fury II– and the good news for fight fans in North America is that it will air free on ESPN !
Whenever a fight of this magnitude comes down the pike, we ask our panel of writers to share their thoughts. The respondents are listed alphabetically.
MATT ANDRZEJEWSKI — I have never quite bought into all the hype surrounding Teofimo Lopez. He is talented no doubt but still somewhat raw as we saw in his fight last year against Masayoshi Nakatani. In my opinion Lopez is nowhere near ready for a seasoned fighter such as Lomachenko. I see a replay of Calzaghe-Lacy. Lomachenko by wide unanimous decision.
BERNARD FERNANDEZ — This isn’t exactly a case of an aging, fairly well-worn Joe Louis giving way for Rocky Marciano. Lomachenko hasn’t fought in a while, but he does not have so many miles on his boxing odometer that he has left all of his prime in his rear-view mirror. Nor is Lopez as fully formed at this stage as he and his backers are apt to believe. The kid’s power might make for a sudden lightning strike, but I see Loma dipping into his deep bag of tricks and fashioning a unanimous-decision victory.
JEFFREY FREEMAN — Vasyl Lomachenko UD 12. Both exciting fighters have 15 professional fights but there is a vast difference in world class experience favoring Lomachenko. I could see Lopez stunning Lomachenko or scoring a flash knockdown—but not winning. Lomachenko is still good enough to give Teofimo a boxing lesson!
THOMAS HAUSER — The odds are much too long on this one. Lomachenko has struggled a bit at 135 pounds and Lopez is a big lightweight. I’ll pick Lomachenko by decision. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Lopez stops him, either by turning the tide with one big shot or breaking Vasyl down with a sustained body attack.
ARNE LANG – The history of boxing is all about young guns blasting out veterans with solid-gold reputations. The “Takeover” is tugging and the odds are juicy, but I just can’t pull the trigger. Lomachenko was reputedly 361-1 as an amateur (87-1 documented), was 6-0 in the semi-pro World Series of Boxing, and is 14-1 as a pro. That makes the Ukrainian one of the greatest winners in the history of sports and betting against him would seem to be as perilous as betting against Joey Chestnut in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
KELSEY McCARSON — I thought I would be picking Lopez this week, but here we are and I’m going with Lomachenko. Lopez is just 23 years old, and I think he has a bright future ahead of him. But the 32-year-old Ukrainian southpaw savant has an almost absurd boxing skill set at his disposal, and I think Lopez will end up being a little too green and a tad too emotional to get the job done on fight night. Lomachenko via unanimous decision, but it’s a fun and close bout that people talk about for a long time.
MATT McGRAIN – There are stories circulating that Vasyl Lomachenko is losing interest; if it is so, Teofimo Lopez may fulfill his prediction of an early knockout. For me though, if Hi-Tech was slacking the ructions would be more audible so the sensible pick remains Lomachenko on points. There are some interesting vibes surrounding this fight though and it might be really fun watching him get there.”
SEAN NAM — Teofimo may possess all the right qualities – size, quickness, power, and counterpunching ability – to theoretically unhorse Vasyl Lomachenko, but he will also be treading in the deep end for the first time in his career. Richard Commey, whom Lopez mowed down in two rounds in his previous bout, is hardly preparation for the stylistic oddity that is Lomachenko; the Ukrainian is the rare pressure fighter who pairs volume with dexterity and precision. Like most supposedly elite fighters today, Lopez’s reputation outstrips his actual accomplishments. It was only two fights ago that Lopez was seen eating a surprising number of right hands by an unheralded and fairly uncomplicated Masayoshi Nakatani. If Lopez cannot find a way to consistently force Lomachenko on his backfoot and stymie his frenetic workrate, he will be in for a long – and punishing – night. Lomachenko, a natural 126-pounder, may be at a distinct size disadvantage at 135, as his fights against Pedraza, Linares, and Campbell have revealed, but he has otherwise been dominant at the weight. A competitive start turns ugly by the end. Lomachenko by UD.
TED SARES — Teofimo Lopez will put Loma through Hell during the first round, but then Loma will figure out the brash Lopez and stop him brutally in the mid rounds. The fact is, we have been hearing too much talk from Lopez and that has caused many to forget just who Vasyl Lomachencko is. On Saturday he will remind us.
PHIL WOOLEVER — Having seen neither gentleman fight live, I’m going purely on statistics and in that sense the only category favoring Lopez is age. More crucial factors like experience and quality of opposition point to a dominating win for Lomachenko, with around a 75% chance of a stoppage whoever wins.
The graphic is by Colorado comic book cover artist ROB AYALA whose specialty is combat sports. Check out more of Ayala’s cool illustrations at his web site fight posium.
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.
Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.
Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.
With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.
Co-Feature
Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.
Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.
Other Bouts of Note
New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.
In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.
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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.
It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.
Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.
In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.
The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.
As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.
Other Bouts of Note
In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.
Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.
A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.
It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.
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