Vasyl Lomachenko stops Masayoshi Nakatani in nine round thrashing

He's back, Vasiliy Lomachenko returned to winning ways after an eight-month hiatus from ring action following his loss to Teomimo Lopez, a loss that saw him lose his position as the number one lightweight in the world. Lomachenko vs Nakatani was fought at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, the card being shown on ESPN.

Nakatani had gone the full 12 rounds with Lopez when the pair met in July 2019, his only bout in between Lopez and Loma was an up and downer against the now beleaguered Felix Ferjedo that saw both combatants down twice each before the Japanese contender finished things in the 9th round.

At 33-years-of age and with the loss to Lopez, there were questions hanging over Loma, would he be able to raise his game to the same lofty levels pre-Lopez?

His performance against Nakatani showed that nothing has been lost, if anything the Ukrainian looked as good as he ever has, a stark warning to Lopez, Haney, Garcia, Davis, and any others lurking around the 135lbs waters of world boxing.

Only a clash of heads in the 1st round that left Loma with a gash on his hairline could be construed as a blemish on an otherwise near-flawless display. He was aggressive, destructive and sublimely skilful.

Lomachenko hurt his Japanese opponent in each of the contests 9 rounds, dropping him in the 5th, leaving the Japanese corner to consider pulling their man out from that point onwards. Nakatani is a threat to any lightweight as he showed in the Verdejo thriller, and yet he found no way of dealing with "The Matrix," a conundrum that nearly 400 amateur and 14 professional boxers have failed to do so thus far.

Will we ever see Lopez vs Lomachenko 2? Lopez is young, big at the weight, and skilful, but he would be well served to deal with the other young guns in the packed lightweight division before moving up to 140lbs. Remember, Lomachenko made things close in their first encounter with a late rally, with a faster start he could well even the score should they meet a second time.