Boxing Challenge:Lomachenko stops Linares!

In what was a technical yet exciting fight, Vasyl Lomachenko finally found an opponent that could stand to up him in WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares, who gave as good as he took for nine rounds and even knocked Lomachenko down for the first time in his career in round six.

However, Lomachenko took firm command in the tenth round and smashed a crushing uppercut to send Linares to the ropes as a preview of what was yet to come.
A combination finished with a savage left-handed body shot sent Linares to the floor and even though the proud Linares rose, referee Ricky Gonzalez had seen enough and ended the fight.
After nine rounds, the judges were split with one judge each having one fighter ahead with the third scoring the bout a draw.
I had the score even at 85-85 with Lomachenko ahead in rounds 5-4, but Linares gaining the point back with the sixth round knockdown.

The fight was close and well fought, but I see no need for a rematch as Lomachenko was coming on strong, cutting Linares and I just don't see a rematch going any differently other than Lomachenko perhaps dominating sooner.
Give Top Rank and Golden Boy credit for working together to put this into the ring and off the negotiating table, but I have no need to see this again, at least for a while.
Lomachenko said after the fight he will be keeping his newly won belt, vacating his WBO junior lightweight title and likely to next fight WBO lightweight champ Ray Beltran, who is promoted by Top Rank as is Lomachenko.
By the end of the summer, we should have just two lightweight champions as Lomachenko-Beltran will be one unification with PBC promoting a WBC-IBF unification between Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter.
The big question is this- can a unification bout be pulled off between the winners (Lomachenko and Garcia will be heavily favored) and who would televise it?
Lomachenko and Garcia would be an even more anticipated battle than Lomachenko-Linares if it can be made.
The promoters may have their issues, but even bigger in making that fight is Garcia, who has a track record of dodging the biggest fights for lesser opponents with the lame excuse "bigger and better fights".
No one would have considered Garcia's fight vs Sergey Lipinets to be a bigger fight than a Linares bout that the WBC mandated, yet still, Garcia slid by with a lesser bout than almost everyone wanted.
Mikey Garcia, not Bob Arum or Al Haymon might be the biggest obstacle to getting one of the best fights in the game in the ring.

In Verona, New York. a star was born as undefeated and formerly untested Jaime Munguia blew away Sadam Ali in just four rounds to win Ali's WBO junior middleweight title.
Ali, a small junior middle, to begin with, looked downright tiny standing next to Munguia and was bounced around the ring to the tune of four knockdowns and a fifth that could have been called before the merciful end to the bout was called.
Munguia looks to be a star in the making as he stalked Ali from the opening bell and punished him badly.
We'll see what he does against true 154 pounders, but Jermell Charlo (WBC) and Jarrett Hurd (WBA/IBF) have been put on notice- there is a new sheriff in town and he punches like a mule kicks.
As for Ali, the beating that I saw him take didn't remind me of a fight that actually happened, it made me think of one from film-Ivan Drago vs Apollo Creed.
Every punch sent Ali careening around the ring and even as far at the end of the first, a case could have been made for ending this one.
Beatings like this one have been known to ruin careers and we'll see if Ali is able to regroup at welterweight, his natural class.

In the co-feature on HBO (boy are they getting mediocre fights or what?) Rey Vargas retained his WBC junior featherweight title via unanimous decision over Azat Hovannysian.
Hovannysian attacked throughout and made it entertaining, but the classy Vargas carried the day as I had Vargas a 117-111 winner.

In England, Hughie Fury knocked out Sam Sexton in the fifth round to win the British heavyweight title.
Haven't seen this fight as of this writing...

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica seven points to three on the weekend to stretch my lead to 88-70.

I earned two points each from wins by Vasyl Lomachenko, Rey Vargas and Jaime Munguia with one from Hughie Fury.
Ramon added one point each from the Lomachenko, Vargas, and Fury wins.