Someone once said Vasyl Lomachenko wasn’t much of a puncher. It’s time to rethink that. The Ukrainian captured his second world title in just his seventh professional fight, knocking out Roman “Rocky” Martinez of Puerto Rico in the fifth round Saturday night before a crowd of 4,545 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Lomachenko, who earlier captured a featherweight title, took Martinez’s WBO junior lightweight belt in dominating fashion. After controlling the first four rounds, Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) finished the Puerto Rican with a right cross at 1:09 of the fifth round, disappointing many in the crowd ready for an early start to Sunday’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.
“I came to do my job and I did my job very well tonight,” Lomachenko said.
He did indeed. Martinez (29-3-2, 17 KOs) seemed to have trouble solving Lomachenko’s southpaw style. Lomachenko found his distance with his jab, connecting with three straight at one point in the first round.
“I couldn’t see his hands,” Martinez later admitted.
The Ukrainian used his impressive footwork to find openings and deliver sharp blows to the body and head, keeping Martinez on the defensive. Martinez, a three-time champion, tried to stay in the fight, hoping one punch might turn momentum his way. But Lomachenko was too quick, too crafty and too good. Right jabs, left leads, combinations to the body and then the head; everything Lomachenko threw landed.
The only question was whether Lomachenko would finish Martinez. He did in the fifth with a tremendous left uppercut followed by a right cross that flattened Martinez. The Puerto Rican was counted out at 1:09 of the round.
“He’s the greatest of our time,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said of Lomachenko. “You’re going to see performances from this guy you’re not going to believe down the road. It’s going to cost us a lot of money to get people to get in the ring with him. You’re looking at history here. This kid is something special.”
Lomachenko’s only loss came against Orlando Salido and a rematch could be in the works.
“I will fight Salido anytime. Let’s do it,” Lomachenko said.
In other bouts, Felix Verdejo of San Juan (22-0, 15 KOs) retained the WBO Latino Lightweight Championship with a fifth-round stoppage of Juan Jose Martinez of Mexico (25-3, 17 KOs); and Zou Shiming of China (8-1, 2 KOs) captured a unanimous decision over Jozsef Ajtai of Hungary (15-3, 10 KOs).
After lackluster showings in his last two bouts, Verdejo wanted to be impressive, and he was. Looking relaxed and poised, he battered Martinez from the opening bell. By the end of the third round, Martinez’s right eye was cut and swollen from the stinging left jab and hard right hands Verdejo was landing with consistency.
Verdejo spent most of the early rounds fighting while backing up as Martinez tried to be the aggressor. But the Mexican paid for it in the fifth round when Verdejo caught him with a thunderous right hand. Martinez’s legs buckled and he staggered backwards. Verdejo moved in for the finish, unleashing a barrage of unanswered punches that forced the referee to stop the fight at 2:40 of the round.
“He was tailor made for me,” Verdejo said. “He stood in front of me. It was my kind of fight.”
Verdejo was coming off two lackluster performances and desperately wanted to prove he could handle being Puerto Rico’s next boxing star.
“I trained harder and I’ve adjusted to the pressure,” he said. “I lost my focus in those fights and I had to work much harder this time to regain it.”
Shiming won all 10 rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to capture an easy decision over Ajtai. Shiming a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, was making his United States debut. Ajtai spent most of the fight backpedaling and running, frustrating a crowd that wanted more action.
“This wasn’t how I envisioned my U.S. debut,” Shiming said. “I apologize to my fans. He just didn’t want to fight.”
Meanwhile, Top Rank exec Carl Morreti said a meeting with New York State Athletic Commission on Friday was “a good discussion” but there were no decisions on whether it will lower the new insurance requirements that would force most boxing and MMA promoters from doing business in New York. The commission has until Sept. 1 to adjust the new requirement passed in Albany last April for a $1 million bond on each fighter to protect against traumatic brain injury.