Boxing
Ricky Hatton believes Vasiliy Lomachenko "took his eye off the ball" against Teofimo Lopez
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Ricky Hatton believe Vasiliy Lomachenko is still a huge threat at lightweight. Days after his impressive win over Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani in Las Vegas, Lomachenko is back within the mix at 135lbs following concerns his points loss to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020 may have signalled the end of his top-class career.
The Ukrainian looked back to his spellbinding best against Nakatani as he dominated from the outset before forcing a stoppage in the ninth session. The performance has prompted talk of a rematch with Lopez and Hatton believes that Lomachenko may have underestimated the New Yorker in their first fight.
"I think Lomachenko is still very much the force he once was,” said Hatton in his Metro column. “He was winning these fights with absolute ease and I think when Lopez came along, I think he just took his eye off the ball and took it a little bit too lightly because he had been winning his previous fights so comfortably.
"He finished the fight strongly against Lopez, I think he started in the first few rounds like he had just got out of bed. He found himself realising, ‘Jesus, this guy is better than I thought’. And when he decided to put his foot down it was too late.
“Let’s have it right, he was a three-weight world champion after 12 fights and he was winning fights with such ease he just took Lopez lightly. And that would have hurt him. He was regarded by so many as the best pound-for-pound fighter around. I think he will come back better than ever.”
