Vasyl Lomachenko vs the ATGs of his division

Hard to say. We haven't seen what Loma is fully capable of.

Based on Salido beating him I've no qualms favouring Saddler.

It is a dynamic process though and will change fight by fight.

 

I believe Lomachenko is the best 126/130lber ever and would beat them all (widely beats Arguello, beats prime Mayweather 9-3) BUT I find it hard to discuss Pep/Saddler because their physiques were adjusted to a 15 round fight and more fights per year - its almost like a 1000m vs 400m sprinters + different rules - Saddler and Pep were able to fight and grapple on the inside the way todays generation is simply not allowed to.
B Leonard was an innovator ahead of his time who taught generations after him, I feel he was eclipsed by the very best by the birth of the PED era in the mid 40's.

 

Saddler would mug him, no doubt about it.

 

The Saddler that fought Pep would beat Lomachenko in a fifteen round fight under the officiating of that time. Salido was Little Lord Fauntleroy compared to Saddler. Plus Saddler had an atg beard and punch. Now that I think about it, I think Saddler could beat Lomachenko in any neutral environment. Maybe after I see more of Lomachenko I might change my mind. I am a Lomachenko fan and put him in the top three of my current favorite boxers but I think Saddler would be too much for him.

 

I'm being honest here, I've never seen one of his fights live and don't know much about him but I feel sick to the stomach that he was cheated out of a win in that loss. I love to see legends in any sport and his amateur recorded is incredible beyond belief. Sometimes I hate the sport that I love so much!

 

Loma= Pep: Can't decide.
Loma<Saddler: Saddler too strong.
Loma<Mayweather: Mayweather too fast. Top 5 reflexes of all time sub 147.
Loma>Arguello: Arguello wouldn't land anything significant and gets stopped.
Loma=Leonard: Another one that is difficult to decide.

 

I have to go with the guys with over fifty fights.

 

Lomachenko's reflexes go beyond Mayweather's in overall utilisation IMO. There's more to reflexes than defence, but speaking of defence, Loma uses his reflexes in defence even in punching range whilst prime Mayweather would usually leave punching range completely (something which Loma can do proficiently, too). Loma's utilisation is also more multi-dimensional because it's applied directly to the output of his opponent. I urge anyone interested to assess Loma's fight with Roman Martinez as a perfect application of this - you will be shocked by the punch selection (carried by his otherworldly reflex) that arose in response to Martinez; it is no wonder Walters was completely checkmated. Lomachenko is considered a 'matrix' fighter. In extension of this, his game involves manipulating the opponent into fighting his fight, thus the reflexes are also rooted in an expected direction - and this allows him to transition between offence and defence seemlessly - a feature Mayweather pales in.
Mayweather however, although has overall strong adaptive ability, is far more 'by the book' and we have seen this to be to his own detriment. Loma does get hit a little more, but he also hits more and is engaged more in being the ring general.

The error people usually fall into when they assess Mayweather's defense is that they take Mayweather's athleticism in defense from his 130 and his smarter defensive work later in his career (147 days) - Mayweather developed a savvy at closer range that he simply didn't have at 130 to the same extent. Mayweather is a cerebral fighter and needed to develop this savvy to adapt to his ageing legs and the bigger men.

Furthermore, styles make fights. Lomachenko has never had problems with counter punchers or defensive fighters or both. I've never seen him perform better than against a counter puncher. With Mayweather, you can see what he's doing each time and can understand it, but Lomachenko's is pretty impossible to understand, hence why I've never seen punch variety like Lomachenko's.

Mayweather's height and reach advantage would be completely negated because Lomachenko adjusted his style when he moved up to 132lbs in the amateurs to these types of opponents as he was up against guys who are currently huge lightweights (in pros) and light welterweights now whilst Loma was only around 134lbs on fight night.

The only flaw Loma possesses IMO that I don't think others realise is that I still don't believe he has his pacing strategy down to a T, hence why I saw him have close rounds with Walters and even Gamalier Rodriguez in the first few rounds. The Salido fight was a failure of the referee and a failure of Loma's pacing strategy.

Just an example of Loma's reflexes:

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Salido and Saddler are two completely different fighters. The consensus is that Lomachenko would KO Salido now (who's currently in the best form of his career), despite Salido being Lomachenko's ultimate stylistic threat. Loma and PBF have the same stylistic threat in that regard, it'll always be hard for them to look impressive against these guys.

I just can't see Saddler beating Loma.

 

I think this puts things in perspective.The guy is a huge talent ,lets hope he goes on to maximise it.