TEOFIMO LOPEZ has done it — causing an incredible upset to beat Vasyl Lomachenko in the huge lightweight unification bout in Las Vegas.
The Honduran-American won wide on points, with the judges scoring 116-112, 119-109, 117-111, while promoter Bob Arum has confirmed there is NO re-match clause.
Follow ALL of the latest reaction from an sensational night below…
GOOD MORNING FIGHT FANS
Anthony Joshua believes Deontay Wilder could be working on a ‘master plan’ to beat Tyson Fury after their trilogy bout failed to materialise.
Speaking of his rival, he told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, so I can’t speak on everyone’s situation, but just from my humble opinion, after a loss, things change.
“You distance yourself. The world is cruel. You’ve got to have a thick skin.
“Either he’s putting together a master plan – he’s in a lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury’s every move.
“Either he’s doing that, or he’s sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, ‘What’s going on?’
“One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next minute you’re not. That’s the name of the game we’re in.”
Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather revealed his “ultimate goal” is to get protege Gervonta Davis to surpass his incredible 50-0 career.
He told Showtime: “Before I was a fighter/promoter. Now, it’s just all promoting.
“This young man right here, a natural born superstar. I would say I’m the god of this s***, I’m the don of this s***, I’m the LeBron of this s***.
“But the ultimate goal is to get him to surpass me.”
And finally, Derek Chisora has claimed that Oleksandr Usyk received a warning from Vasiliy Lomachenko’s upset defeat to Teofimo Lopez last weekend.
He told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, because you have to understand Lomachenko thrives on boxing behind a crowd and stuff like that.
“This time he boxed behind about 25 people. By the time he realised it was happening, he was losing the fight, and I think me and Oleksandr, we like the crowd as well. We’re going to have to find another way of boosting ourselves up when it’s the later rounds, the money rounds.
“You feed off the crowd. Every great player feeds off the crowd. You can be in tennis, rugby or football. You feed off the crowd.”
BOX TO BOX
Derek Chisora has claimed that Oleksandr Usyk received a warning from Vasiliy Lomachenko’s upset defeat to Teofimo Lopez last weekend.
He told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, because you have to understand Lomachenko thrives on boxing behind a crowd and stuff like that.
“This time he boxed behind about 25 people. By the time he realised it was happening, he was losing the fight, and I think me and Oleksandr, we like the crowd as well. We’re going to have to find another way of boosting ourselves up when it’s the later rounds, the money rounds.
“You feed off the crowd. Every great player feeds off the crowd. You can be in tennis, rugby or football. You feed off the crowd.”
WRESTLE KINGDOM
Khabib’s coach Javier Mendez does not think Justin Gaethje’s wrestling backgrouund will be an issue.
He told MMA Junkie’s Hablemos MMA podcast: “The thing with Justin is, when has he used wrestling? I’ve never seen it.
“Just to get up, but he hasn’t used the wrestling. So let’s see what happens.
“If we can’t get him down, we have a fight.
“If we get him down there’s not going to be a big problem because he doesn’t work on the ground, from what I’ve seen.
“If you’re not working wrestling in your fights, it’s going to be hard in your first fight given how big the fight is and that he’s taking on the master of the ground in Khabib.
“It’s going to be tough for him. However, if we can’t get him down, it will be hard for us.
“He says he’s tough to take down, so let’s see what happens. I don’t think it’s going to be as hard as he thinks, but it’s possible that it’s tough to take him down. I don’t believe it will, because Khabib is a master at taking the fight to the ground.”
CALL A KHAB
Khabib arrived for his UFC blockbuster against Justin Gaethje looking like Bane.
The Eagle’s coronavirus mask had fans comparing him to Tom Hardy’s supervillain from Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.
Nurmagomedov – whose mask is actually a £200 respirator made by UFC partner O2 Industries – will defend his lightweight belt at UFC 254 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Here was the tale of the tape ahead of Tyson Fury’s supposed cancelled third fight against Deontay Wilder.
WILD CLAIM
WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Joshua has also revealed he ‘can’t wait’ for the Bronze Bomber to break his silence on why the third fight with Tyson Fury isn’t going ahead.
AJ told Sky Sports: “It’s interesting as to say, ‘Why he hasn’t spoken?’ But when he does speak, we’ll soon find out.
“For me to make speculation as to why he hasn’t spoken, I can’t because only he knows.
“But I can’t wait for him to address the reason why the fight isn’t going to happen at the end of the year. What happened in the first fight? Why he lost.
“Was it the costume, was it the glove situation? It would be really good to hear the reasons as to why and even better.
“I hope he does come back, because he’s a great asset to the heavyweight division, and like the Dillian situation, I would like to understand how he found the strength to pull himself up.”
ICYMI
Anthony Joshua believes Deontay Wilder could be working on a ‘master plan’ to beat Tyson Fury after their trilogy bout failed to materialise.
Speaking of his rival, he told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, so I can’t speak on everyone’s situation, but just from my humble opinion, after a loss, things change.
“You distance yourself. The world is cruel. You’ve got to have a thick skin.
“Either he’s putting together a master plan – he’s in a lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury’s every move.
“Either he’s doing that, or he’s sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, ‘What’s going on?’
“One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next minute you’re not. That’s the name of the game we’re in.”
RUNNING THE SHOW
Khabib Nurmagomedov will be looking to maintain his unbeaten UFC record this weekend.
The Russian hardman, 32, will be up against Justin Gaethje on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
A win over Gaethje will extend his professional MMA record to 29-0.
And it will be his 13th win on the bounce as part of the UFC, as he previously fought for the likes of ProFC and M-1 Selection.
GO WITH THE FLO
Floyd Mayweather revealed his “ultimate goal” is to get protege Gervonta Davis to surpass his incredible 50-0 career.
The American legend retired in 2017 after beating UFC star Conor McGregor, and despite teasing a comeback, has focussed his efforts on promoting.
Super-featherweight champion Davis, signed to Mayweather Promotions, is one of the 43-year-old’s biggest stars.
And he has such high hopes for his unbeaten fighter, he wants to see Davis go on to better his own legacy.
Mayweather told Showtime: “Before I was a fighter/promoter. Now, it’s just all promoting.
“This young man right here, a natural born superstar. I would say I’m the god of this s***, I’m the don of this s***, I’m the LeBron of this s***.
“But the ultimate goal is to get him to surpass me.”
PHONE IT IN
Boxing judge Terry O’Connor will appear before the British Boxing Board of Control to explain his shock scoring of Lewis Ritson’s controversial weekend win.
Over 12 super-lightweight rounds against Mexican underdog Miguel Vazquez on Saturday, the Newcastle banger only seemed to win a couple.
But veteran official O’Connor’s 117-111 scorecard helped the Geordie nick a split decision that stunned the almost-empty Peterborough arena.
Sky Sports’ commentator Matt Macklin and pundit Tony Bellew both felt Vazquez had coasted to a wide points win and even promoter Eddie Hearn admitted the wrong hand was raised.
A Monday statement from the usually hyper-private BBBofC said: “Mr. O’Connor will appear before the Stewards of the British Boxing Board of Control following his appointment to the boxing tournament at the East of England Showground Arena on Saturday, 17th October 2020”.
WILD SIDE
Deontay Wilder is in ‘superhuman’ shape and still training for a December rematch with Tyson Fury.
The Bronze Bomber was completely outclassed in February as the Gypsy King dethroned him to become WBC heavyweight king following their dramatic draw in the pair’s first fight.
Last week, Deontay Wilder’s promoter, Bob Arum, announced the contracted period to agree the Tyson Fury rematch had expired.
Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, responded to Arum by saying: “He’s entitled to his opinion, he can think anything he wants.
“Deontay and I would like to have the next fight, as planned, against Fury. We’ll fight him any date, any place.”
KINGS OF THE RING
Vasily Lomachenko has plummeted to seventh in Ring Magazine’s latest top ten pound-for-pound fighter rankings.
But both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua were nowhere to be seen in the new list.
Ukrainian Lomachenko, 32, suffered a wide points defeat in Las Vegas against Teofimo Lopez as judges scored the bout 116-112, 119-109 and 117-111 in favour of the 23-year-old.
He bizarrely claimed he thought he did enough to win despite being outclassed by the American at the MGM Grand.
And that setback has seen the star drop five places from second in the P4P rankings, with his rival climbing into the top ten a place above him.
WILD CLAIM
Anthony Joshua believes Deontay Wilder could be working on a ‘master plan’ to beat Tyson Fury after their trilogy bout failed to materialise.
The WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion has also revealed he ‘can’t wait’ for the Bronze Bomber to break his silence on why the fight isn’t going ahead.
Fury, 32, has already declared he is moving on from the American and is targeting a new opponent for his homecoming bout on December 5.
The unbeaten Brit has agreed a two-fight deal to face AJ in 2021, but Joshua, 31, must first get past his world title defence against Kubrat Pulev.
And having suffered the first defeat of his professional career last year, the Olympic gold medallist can understand why Wilder has refused to speak after his loss to Fury.
Speaking of his rival, he told Sky Sports: “I don’t know, so I can’t speak on everyone’s situation, but just from my humble opinion, after a loss, things change.
“You distance yourself. The world is cruel. You’ve got to have a thick skin.
“Either he’s putting together a master plan – he’s in a lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury‘s every move.
“Either he’s doing that, or he’s sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, ‘What’s going on?’
“One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next minute you’re not. That’s the name of the game we’re in.”
PEG LEG
George Foreman has pinpointed a weakness in Mike Tyson’s right leg ahead of his comeback bout against Roy Jones Jr.
Tyson, 54, has been gearing up to make a sensational return to the ring, 15 years since his last fight.
Before announcing he had signed to face former four-division champion Jones, 51, Iron Mike posted a series of viral training clips.
Tyson appears to show off his trademark speed and heavy hands – but Foreman noticed a problem with the power generated in his right leg.
He told TMZ: “He only see what he want to see. We are only looking at what he wants us to see.
“Maybe a few minutes later when he gets up out the bed he gets dizzy and falls on the floor or your leg pops out.
“That right leg that he was trying to throw, the right hand I noticed it didn’t move with the right hand, it kind of stayed there.
“The left leg moved OK. I watch everything.”
FRIGHT NIGHT
Boxing fans have been left fearing the worst for Roy Jones Jr after new footage of Mike Tyson surfaced on social media.
The 54-year-old is in incredible shape ahead of the exhibition bout on November 28.
Footage shared by Shannon Briggs shows Tyson tensing his muscles with his shirt off.
The former Baddest Man on the Planet’s hard work in the gym has clearly paid off.
Former heavyweight champion Briggs added the caption: “Look at em y’all!!! ABSOLUTE POWER!”
In response, one fan commented: “He’s done hibernating. Looks like old Mike is back. Be afraid.”
