Vasyl Lomachenko's return to the ring against Jamaine Ortiz was expected to be a mere formality on his way to a 2023 title shot against Devin Haney but after eight rounds, Ortiz was ahead on my scorecard and appeared to have a chance of a seismic change to the boxing landscape in New York City.
That would be the high point of the evening for Ortiz as the legendary stamina of Lomachenko kicked in as he dominated the final four rounds, sweeping them on all scorecards and earning the unanimous decision with the likely invite to face Haney for all four world championships next year.
Lomachenko finished the first round with some swelling below the right eye, which his corner claimed was due to the abrasive tape on the gloves of Ortiz.
The swelling didn't become worse throughout the fight but it was an annoyance throughout.
I scored Lomachenko a 115-113 winner, which equaled one judge's card with the other two tabbing Loma the winner by scores of 116-112 and 117-111, which seemed to be wider than the fight indicated in my opinion.
Lomachenko hadn't fought in eleven months since his win over Richard Commey and between the layoff and the war in Ukraine, it would be understandable if he wasn't razor sharp but going back to his loss to Teofimo Lopez where he started slowly and collected many rounds down the stretch, Lomachenko, like Gennady Golovkin, may be showing his age through the amount of time (and rounds that he gives away) that it takes for him to be revved up and at top speed.
Lomachenko has always been a small lightweight in stature and he gave height and strength away to Ortiz and in the post-fight interview when Devin Haney was called into the ring to discuss a fight with Lomachenko, the size difference was startling.
Considering the size advantage, activity, and youth, I'd rate Haney as a slight favorite against Lomachenko, who I wouldn't say has lost a step as much as has been hampered by nagging injuries and a lack of consistent ring time.
In San Diego, undefeated lightweight William Zepeda placed himself directly in position to fight for any potential vacated titles next year with a dominant unanimous decision over former IBF junior lightweight champion Joseph Diaz.
Zepeda hammered Diaz from the opening bell and simply outworked and overpowered the veteran, who hung in the fight enough to occasionally keep Zepeda honest but never enough to truly concern him either.
Zepeda won on two cards 119-109 and the other 118-110 with my card agreeing with the latter.
Diaz, who lost a featherweight championship attempt to Gary Russell in 2018, lost his second in three fights at 135 pounds (losing to Devin Haney last year), lacks the power to hurt top lightweights and cuts are becoming a major problem for Diaz, who lost his 130-pound title on the scales but would be better suited to try to return to the junior lightweight division.
As for Zepeda, he is non-stop aggression and his beating of Diaz was much more comprehensive than the fighters that also hold wins over Diaz ( Haney and Russell) and in a lightweight division with lots of strong fighters even if Devin Haney moves up, Zepeda is going to be a tough out for any of them.
In London, boxing's version of the unsinkable Molly Brown emerged again with an upset that could once again result in a championship attempt as former IBF junior featherweight and featherweight champion battered favored Jordan Gill and forced his corner to throw in the towel in the middle of round four.
The win gave Martinez the European title and since the fight was an IBF eliminator, Martinez could be one win again from a second shot at the title that he both won (over Kid Galahad) and lost (to Josh Warrington) in the last twelve months by knockout.
Gill was favored after his ninth-round knockout of Karim Guerfi in his last fight in the biggest win over his career and a Gill-Warrington or Gill-Leigh Wood pairing would have drawn a nice crowd in the UK but Martinez was having none of that from the start as every punch from the 36-year-old Spaniard seemed crash hard against Gill.
Martinez dropped Gill twice in the third and two more times in the fourth and with Gill's nose streaming blood and his face puffing with swelling, his corner waved the fight off after the fourth knockdown of the fight in round four.
Kiko Martinez truly is amazing and there may have not been a better world-class level gatekeeper than Martinez in years, and once again Martinez will be an underdog against Josh Warrington or Leigh Wood next time out as he keeps earning that one more payday after a surprising win.
Just don't sleep on him even if the odds seem to be all against him.
Boxing Challenge
TRS: 177 Pts (2)
Ramon Malpica: 154 Pts (3)
Vince Samano: 145 Pts (5)
