AND STILL
Vasiliy Lomachenko beats brave Luke Campbell on points with ferocious display to take WBC, WBA and WBO lightweight belts
HULL hero Luke Campbell’s brave bid to dethrone pound-for-pound boxing king Vasiliy Lomachenko ended in heartbreak.
The 31-year-old southpaw and 2012 Olympic winner took a shot at the WBO and WBO lightweight champ, with the WBC strap also on the line, but was soundly beaten by a virtuoso performance from the planet’s finest living pugilist.
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After a trademark slow start, used to suss out his latest victim, Lomachenko put on the masterclass the sold out o2 arena had been praying for.
Campbell was dropped in the eleventh from a sickening three-punch combo but somehow made it back to his feet and to the final bell before hearing the scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
Lomanchenko, as usual, started slowly, he is calm and confident enough to concede some opening rounds as he bides his time and reads his opponent, working out their every move, punch and feint.
Loma’s first real combination came at the very end of the second round when a crisp left hand split the Hull hero’s guard and he landed and a follow-up right jab hit the button.
By the third, Loma’s jab was rarely missing, reddening Campbell’s face but it was three left-handed power punches that did the damage.
Three separate straight shots went right down the pipe and rocked the challenger’s head back as he tried to get to grips with the man once nicknamed ‘The Matrix’.
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In the fifth, Lomachenko was sublime, his judging of time and distance was genius. He would be close enough to land two jabs on Campbell and then well clear of the counterattack before Campbell even realised.
The bell saved the baby-faced Englishman after Lomanchenko had smashed him with a huge left hand to the head and then peppered his ribs with spiteful digs.
There was barely any respite from the interval, the second the sixth started, Loma rammed a jab into Campbell’s nose that would have floored a lesser man.
And a three-punch combination with a minute of the stanza left had the crowd purring as Campbell was made to look increasingly out of his depth against a simply superior athlete.
Campbell’s courage was heroic, in round seven when it looked like a sweet left hook had Loma hurt, the little genius rallied from nowhere and mounted a venomous assault that the father of two somehow survived.
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Every small mistake Campbell made went spitefully punished, he was not afforded a single second of rest as the swarm of punches and feints kept coming. The exhausting barrage Lomachenko throws at a fighter must sap the mind and body of everything.
Campbell’s long arms threw good shots, but almost every one caught nothing but clean air. No matter how many times or how loud you knock on the Lomackeno door, it seems nobody is ever at home.
A vengeful barrage in the penultimate round had Campbell on the floor, the final blow another laser-like jab after two body shots.
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The Brit collapsed to the floor and took an eight count but courageously climbed to his feet and danced away to make the final session.
In the 12th round Campbell caught Loma with a low blow but it only encouraged the brilliant marksman as he almost finished him with another assault that Campbell only escaped by bowing down and almost scooping the little master up off his feet.
The bell was a welcome end to Campbell’s punishment, he had suffered enough, but the crowd could have stayed on for another 36 minutes of unadulterated excellence from the biggest star in boxing.
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