came away with a big fan tonight. What impressed me most was this kids mental makeup and conditioning. WOW. Salido threw the kitchen sink at him from start to finish and Lomanchenko never once complained. Never once did his facial expression change or did it seem like he was going to wilt. IN fact it was the opposite. In the corner this dude was calm and 100% focused and with the fight very close in the last two rounds this guy came out guns blazing when he has never gone the full 12 rounds before. He is a very complete fighter mentally and physically, and his answers in the interview only confirmed my thinking while watching him fight Loma is the real deal , this loss means nothing, and this is coming from a guy who just won almost 2k on Salido.
This loss will do him more good in the long run than another easy blowout ever could've. The main thing I was looking for was to see how he'd react to being down in a hostile environment against an experienced fighter- and he didn't crumble, he rose to the occasion and made the adjustments he needed to. It was simply too late by then. That, you can learn from. But you can't teach the will to come back in the championship rounds. Vasyl will be fine going forward. And, yes, while Salido used every single trick in the book to get the W, that's for the best, too. He fought the veteran fight and exposed Vasyl to more in 12 rounds than he'd have gotten in 20 fights against journeymen. The experience will be invaluable, and Salido at least deserves credit for his craftiness and resourcefulness, even if one disagrees with his methods. There's something to take away from that, as well.
Lomachenko looked decent, but nothing special. We must keep in mind the way men such as Mikey Garcia and Gamboa have dealt with Salido in the past. Steve Bunce raised a valid point, Vasyl no doubt picked up a fair few bob in the amateurs, was regarded very highly there, and didn't seem to phased by the defeat. As such the query I would raise is: exactly how much does Lomachenko want to be the fighter many think he can be?
i simply refuse to accept that anyone in their right mind would be impressed with Loma tonight. i think people are just trying to soften the blow.
Completely with this. The guy was fighting an experienced grizzled veteran who failed weight and he still made it close... impressive and I hpe he gets to fight for the vacat title in fight #3
