http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JULY 25, 2019 lBOXING NEWSl 9well aware of what I can do and what I’m
going to do.
“I think that I can knock out anyone
that I hit right. I believe I am one of
the biggest punchers in the lightweight
division. This is going to be the toughest
fight of my life and I’m preparing for
it, physically and mentally. This is Luke
Campbell’s year. It’s my time.”
Chances are, you can go back and
find similar pre-fight quotes issued by
Anthony Crolla, Jose Pedraza, Jorge
Linares, Guillermo Rigondeaux and many
more. They, like Campbell, had the same
kind of aspirations and the same need
to suspend disbelief. Some knew what
they were letting themselves in for, while
others were ignorant to it. Either way,
they initially said all the right things,
conscious of the fact that once they got
near Lomachenko, their pre-fight quoteswould be the only aspect of the fight
over which they had any kind of control.
Campbell, 20-2 (16), could be
different. Who knows? Just as he must
suspend disbelief, we
too must look at his
plus points, invest in the
dream, and somehow
imagine Lomachenko
not as a faultless fighting
machine but a human
being whose demise
could be just one punch
away.
To this end, Campbell’s
extensive and excellent
amateur career will stand
him in good stead next month, as will
his long, rangy, technical southpaw style,
and his ability to box from the outside,
pick up points, and avoid danger. Heis certainly not, stylistically speaking,
a Lomachenko wet dream the way
Anthony Crolla was, for example. He
has habits, tricks and tools Lomachenko
would rather he left behind. His boxing
brain is astute enough to solve riddles.
Does this mean he will win? Not quite.
But the inevitability of Luke Campbell’s
defeat is nowhere near as great as it has
been with other Lomachenko opponents.
And that’s something at least.
“This is a fight for history because
my goal is to unify all of the belts in the
lightweight division,” Lomachenko, 13-
(10), said. “Luke Campbell is the next
challenge for me on that journey. He
is an excellent fighter who I remember
well from the 2012 Olympics. He has
a difficult style, and I cannot afford to
overlook him.
“It is very special for me to fight
in London. I visited last year and
the response from the people was
overwhelming. They respect my fighting
style and are passionate about boxing.”
Lomachenko’s trip to the UK is not an
attempt to bring a great champion over
here for him to be dethroned in a bearpit
baying for blood. We have seen examples
of this and, when they get it right, it’s
often a masterstroke on the part of the
promoter. Odds in their favour, the British
challenger receives home comforts,
some generous officiating and bespoke
scorecards designed to deliver the result
a sold-out arena crowd paid good money
to hear at the end of their night. Save for
the visitor, everyone goes home happy.
But no, this is different. The feeling
is that Lomachenko is being shipped to
the UK in order to showcase his talents
to a new audience, a
fresh market. It will be
his first appearance on
British soil since lighting
up the World Series of
Boxing in 2013 and he’s
bigger and better now.
He is this time being
brought over to educate, to delight, and
to sell tickets and pay-per-views, every
one of which will be snapped up not
because Luke Campbell is fighting Vasyl
Lomachenko but because
Vasyl Lomachenko is
fighting at 10 o’clock, UK
time, on a Saturday night.
It’s a rare, close look at a
master at work. It’s why
he will walk a red carpet,
not the plank.
As for Luke Campbell,
it’s his job to be
remembered not as Vasyl
Lomachenko’s compère
but as a brilliant world
title challenger and to cause the shock of
all shocks.
He must do it for himself, not a selfie.
We wish him luck.GOLDEN PAIR:
Now Olympic champions
Lomachenko [left] and
Campbell meet as pros‘THE BEST
FIGHTING THE
BEST, THIS IS
GOING TO BE
ONE HELL OF
A FIGHT’
PUNISHMENT?