Good, bad, worse: Nonito Donaire, Vasiliy Lomachenko still have it

A critical look at the past week in boxing

GOOD

In a sport most suited for the young, two veterans – Nonito Donaire and Vasiliy Lomachenko – demonstrated on Saturday that 30-somethings can still dominate.

Donaire, defending his bantamweight titles, is almost 40-something (39) yet ended a competitive fight against Reymart Gaballo with a vintage left hook to the body that rendered his fellow Filipino unable to continue in Carson, California.

One of boxing’s true treasures has now stopped previously unbeaten opponents in the fourth round in back-to-back fights, including his stoppage of Nordine Oubaali to win his title.

Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) is following the lead of countryman Manny Pacquiao, who outpointed Keith Thurman to win a welterweight title at 40. However, that was Pacman’s last hurrah. He lost to Yordenis Ugas in his next fight and retired.

Donaire seems to be as good as ever, as impossible as that sounds. And he has set his sights high: He talks about becoming undisputed 118-pound champion.

Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) seemed to be an afterthought amid the rise of several talented young lightweights after his loss to Teofimo Lopez. Then Lopez lost to George Kambosos, Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney failed to dominate recent opponents and Ryan Garcia stepped away from the sport.

That gave the 33-year-old Ukrainian an opportunity to show he still belongs and he seized it, giving a clinic against overmatched Richard Commey in New York City. He looked a lot like the boxing wizard of the recent past, allowing Commey to land only 12% of his punches, according to CompuBox.

That might not bode well for the other top 135-pounders as he pursues his own dream of becoming “undisputed.”

Of course, we shouldn’t get carried away. Donaire stopped Gaballo, not Nayoa Inoue. Lomachenko defeated Commey, not one of the young stars. The bigger challenges might prove to much them. Then again, what we saw on Saturday makes us think that anything is possible.

BAD

Now we wait.

The best lightweights have talked about facing one another since before the COVID-19 pandemic set in two years ago but only one fight pitting one against another – Lomachenko vs. Lopez – has happened in part because of the usual culprit, competing loyalties.

To date Davis, Haney and Garcia have yet to face a top 135-pound rival, which is becoming ridiculous.

Lopez did agree to defend his undisputed championship against Kambosos but the Aussie was not in the fraternity of young stars going into that fight. He is bona fide member after his sensational upset of Lopez on Nov. 27.

So will 2022 be the year that the best fight the best in what has been labeled by some the deepest division in boxing? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Kambosos gives us hope. He has all the leverage because he holds all four major titles, assuming you consider him (not Haney) the WBC champ. The new king says Davis, Haney, Garcia and now Lomachenko are all in the mix to be his next opponent, possibly in a homecoming down under.

He also said he doesn’t want to face an easy mark, which gives us added hope that we might get a fight worth watching.

Of course, a shrewd business advisor will whisper in his ear that he should milk this championship thing for as long as possible, meaning an interim fight against a second-tier opponent might make sense from a financial standpoint.

For example, Kambosos vs. a mandatory challenger could earn him good money for minimal risk.

The bottom line is this, though: If Kambosos truly wants to move directly into a superfight – and it sounds as if he does – it will happen because everyone wants those belts, which in turn gives them the aforementioned leverage.

I can’t begin to speculate who might win the Kambosos lottery because a case can be made for all his 135-pound rivals, who are roughly equal threats. If it were up to me? I might go with Garcia or Davis because of their social media following. They would produce the biggest numbers.

I would be happy with any of them, though. And I know I’m not alone.

And what about those who aren’t the lucky one to face Kambosos? They’ll have to make a decision: Bide their time by taking on solid, but limited opponents in hopes of one day getting a shot at the undisputed championship or face genuine threats – meaning each other – in the meantime.

It’s time for them to choose the latter. Enough talk.

WORSE

An Olympics without boxing? It’s possible.

The International Olympic Committee this past week gave amateur boxing officials 18 months to demonstrate they’ve made adequate organizational and cultural changes before they can win approval to be a part of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Amateur boxing has been plagued by accusations of corruption, which has put in it in this precarious position.

The sport moved in the right direction when the IOC stripped the International Boxing Association of the right to oversee the boxing competition at the Tokyo Olympics. Instead, it was organized gymnastics officials.

That led to election of new AIBA president Umar Kremlev last December, which started the reform process in earnest.

Let’s hope Kremlev and his colleagues can convince IOC officials that a clean boxing competition would be a boon to the Games, not a detriment, because it’s hard to imagine the Olympics without the sweet science.

It would be sadly ironic for Americans if the sport’s Olympic run, which started in 1904, came to an end in Los Angeles. That’s where arguably the best U.S. team claimed its glory in 1984, although Cuba and Soviet Bloc countries didn’t compete in those games.

I want to see the next Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, Mark Breland and Evander Holyfield in 2028. And I know all boxing fans feel the same way.

RABBIT PUNCHES

Conor Benn (20-0, 13 KOs) looked like a genuine welterweight contender in his knockout victory over veteran Chris Algieri (25-4, 9 KOs) on Saturday in Liverpool, England. He fought with the maturity of a more experienced fighter, patiently breaking down his opponent before stopping him with a brutal one-two in the fourth round. His handlers don’t want to rush him, though. That’s smart. He reportedly had only 20 amateur fights, which gives him 40 in total. He’s still developing. The last thing you want to do is throw him into the ring with an Errol Spence Jr. or Terence Crawford. His time on the biggest stage will come soon enough. … Light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) outclassed Umar Salamov (26-2, 19 KOs) on Saturday in Russia, which is par for the course for him. Next up could be a unification bout against either Artur Beterbiev (wouldn’t that be something?) or Joe Smith Jr. And I still hope that Canelo Alvarez decides to fight either Bivol or Beterbiev, not a cruiserweight, if he wants to fight bigger men. … Undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (20-0, 6 KOs) fought off a spirited challenge from Firuza Sharipova (14-2, 8 KOs) to win a unanimous decision and retain her titles on the Benn-Algieri card. Taylor’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says Amanda Serrano is next if Serrano defeats Miriam Gutierrez next Saturday. Serrano, a featherweight who has had success moving up and down in weight, might be the biggest test of Taylor’s career. The native of Puerto Rico is a genuine threat to Taylor. …

The fact promoter Bob Arum’s 90^th birthday celebration was televised on ESPN was unusual but somehow heartwarming, particularly when heavyweight champ Tyson Fury led a chorus of “Happy Birthday” at Madison Square Garden. And I loved the video tributes to Arum, including one from arch rival Don King. Arum has been promoting for more than a half century and is still going strong. God bless him. … Relative unknown Cody Crowley (20-0, 9 KOs) turned in one of the bigger upsets of the year on the Donaire-Gaballo card, overcoming a knockdown to outpoint longtime contender Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (18-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout. Crowley just kept coming and coming … and coming. I don’t see the Canadian as a threat to the top 147-pounders but they would have to work hard to beat him. … Junior welterweight contender Brandun Lee (24-0, 22 KOs) stopped Juan Heraldez (16-2-1, 10 KOs) in the seventh round on the Donaire-Gaballo card. It’s time for him to face the big boys. … Nico Ali Walsh (3-0, 2 KOs), the grandson of Muhammad Ali, was fortunate to have his hands raised against stubborn Reyes Sanchez (6-1, 2 KOs) on the Lomachenko-Commey card. I don’t have a problem with the majority decision, though. I do have a problem with the card of judge James Kinney of New Jersey, who gave Ali Walsh all four rounds. Sanchez clearly won the third round, which makes me wonder what Kinney was watching.