Photo by James Chance/Getty Images
Olympic gold medalist Campbell put up a hell of a fight, but it wasn’t enough to stop Lomachenko from taking yet another belt.
Saturday night saw WBA and WBO lightweight champ Vasily Lomachenko add the vacant WBC strap to his collection, but it wasn’t as easy as some expected. Lengthy British boxer Luke Campbell put up a hell of a fight in front of his home country crowd at London’s O2 Arena, taking a few rounds early by our count before getting overwhelmed by “Loma” later in (read our round by round breakdown here).
The endless amount of body shots Lomachenko served up across the night finally put Campbell down to one knee in the 11th, but the tough competitor would survive to the final bell. The judges at ringside saw the fight for Lomachenko 119-108, 119-108, 118-109. Now only the IBF title remains in Vasiliy’s quest to unify the lightweight belts.
The fight was full of exciting moments and fierce exchanges. Campbell’s toughness came in the face of another stunning performance from Lomachenko. Take a look at the knockdown in the 11th round:
Vasiliy Lomachenko’s 11th-Round Knockdown (vs. Luke Campbell) pic.twitter.com/jbKJKpLlhO
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) August 31, 2019
Here’s Campbell barely surviving the same fate in the 5th round:
SAVED BY THE BELL @VasylLomachenko flurries to end Round 5 #LomaCampbell pic.twitter.com/r4j2bVAXro
— ESPN (@espn) August 31, 2019
Lomachenko was serving up brutal body shots all night long.
A little taste from ringside of the @VasylLomachenko action that led to a Unanimous Decision for the Champ #LomaCampbell pic.twitter.com/0Y8wnFOEQ8
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 1, 2019
Campbell gutted it out (heh), but needed to resort to a desperate double leg in order to stay up in the final round:
Campbell pulling some MMA moves as Lomachenko gains momentum in the 12th. #LomaCampbell #boxing pic.twitter.com/Ofdsc1nLza
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) August 31, 2019
Here’s a full minute and a half of highlights from across the bout:
Championship Mettle @VasylLomachenko took @luke11campbell‘s best shots in the 7th round, rallied to put Campbell on the canvas in the 11th, then got his hand raised – and a third belt. #LomaCampbell pic.twitter.com/M2Ju71Qez4
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 1, 2019
Count the belts.
It’s ok, take your time.@VasylLomachenko | #LomaCampbell pic.twitter.com/yYQGN7h8Zz
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 31, 2019