Vasiliy Lomachenko will begin his comeback tour this coming Saturday, June 26th, in Las Vegas, as he looks to score a win after tasting just his second loss of his pro career. But even though he’s a huge favorite to win in his next fight, Lomachenko can’t be too confident against Masayoshi Nakatani, who knows a thing or two about pulling off upsets. Check out our preview of this fight below.
The Ukrainian boxing star is set to return to the ring for the first time since he lost his lightweight belts in an upset unanimous decision loss at the hands of Teofimo Lopez in October 2020. It should be noted too that Lomachenko went under the knife after he lost to Lopez to repair a shoulder injury. He said that he was hampered in the Lopez fight by a bad shoulder, so we’re about to see whether he’ll be back to the dominant version of himself when he takes on Nakatani. Hi-Tech is still a very relevant fighter despite not having any titles as of the moment, and for him to rebound successfully, he will have to solve Nakatani’s physical advantages in terms of height and reach. Lomachenko is a textbook boxer, thanks in large part to his extensive amateur experience. He’s so good at finding angles to attack, and that will come in handy against Nakatani. Lomachenko’s footwork, jabbing, and slick head movement should cause problems for the Japanese.
Compared to Lomachenko, Nakatani is still a relatively unknown fighter outside of his home country of Japan. But he turned plenty of heads when he defeated Felix Verdejo back in December 2020 via technical knockout in the ninth round. Nakatani was losing that fight until he scored that TKO, as he got knocked down twice earlier in the bout. Verdejo wasn’t just any fighter. He was ranked 14th in the division before his loss to Nakatani, and the win over the Puerto Rican added some legitimacy to the talents of the Japanese. Nakatani will come into the fight against Lomachenko with a four-inch and six-inch height and reach advantages, respectively. Nakatani is a huge underdog in this fight, but his chances against Lomachenko could be a lot better than what most people think. A resilient fighter with that significant reach advantage can be a tricky foe for a former champion, who’s coming off a loss and surgery. Don’t count Nakatani out.
Writer’s Prediction
Nakatani upsets Lomachenko and wins via split decision.
