Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Masayoshi Nakatani was a lightweight

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

match contested between three-division former unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, and lightweight contender

Masayoshi Nakatani Masayoshi Nakatani (中谷正義, ''Nakatani Masayoshi'', born March 8, 1989) is a Japanese professional boxer. He held the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, OPBF lightweight title between 2014 and 2019, and won the World Boxing Organizat ...

. The bout took place on June 26, 2021, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...

. Lomachenko won the fight by ninth-round technical knockout.

Background

The pair share a common loss to Teófimo López. Lomachenko lost his unified titles to the American in October 2020, while Nakatani had also lost a unanimous decision to López in July 2019. Lomachenko cited that he "still wanted to be undisputed lightweight champion". However, López declined to give Lomachenko a rematch, explaining that “everybody

n Lomachenko’s camp N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

was being a dick to me, my father. He omachenkodidn’t want to put a rematch clause in our contract." Speaking on why he chose Nakatani as his next opponent, Lomachenko said "I want to compare myself with this guy, he was close with ópezin their fight." Nakatani fought back from his loss to López, beating Félix Verdejo via technical knockout, after being dropped for the first time in his professional career. Lomachenko agreed to a comeback fight against Nakatani in Las Vegas. The bout was aired on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in the US and Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. It went head to head with Gervonta Davis'

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

clash with Mario Barrios on Showtime PPV in Atlanta, Georgia taking place on the same night. The fight was only the second time in Lomachenko's professional career that a world title was not on the line.

Fight details

Lomachenko reasserted himself as one of the best at lightweight, as the former pound-for-pound star dropped Nakatani in the fifth, before stopping him in round nine. CompuBox stats show that Lomachenko landed 104 out of 214 punches (49%), while Nakatani landed 29 out of 250 (12%). With the victory, Lomachenko earned the right to a potential rematch with López, a reward he has made no secret that he desperately seeks. "He has a fight in the future with eorge Kambosos, but after e will fight" Lomachenko said. "Maybe next year, beginning of the year. December, January, February. I am waiting." Lomachenko added: "Everybody saw how I won this fight, and everybody is waiting for the rematch, so let's make a rematch."

Fight card

Broadcasting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomachenko, Nakatani 2021 in boxing 2021 in sports in Nevada June 2021 sports events in the United States Boxing matches in the Las Vegas Valley

Nakatani Nakatani (written: 中谷 or 仲谷) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Carlos Nakatani (1934–2004), Mexican artist * Corey Nakatani (born 1970), American jockey *, Japanese politician *, Japanese baseball player *Ju ...

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