Former three-weight world champion Vasily Lomachenko managed to return to the ring, stopping Japanese legend Masayoshi Nakatani for ninth on Saturday night.
With Nakatani's left eye closed after eight disastrous rounds, Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KO) used a flurry of left-handed batting to eliminate his tall opponent, losing to Teofimo López. The latter had a statement comeback in his first match. October.
It first stopped Nakatani (19-2) in a fight, his only other defeat in 2019 via decision at the hands of Lopez.
Lomachenko punches 59% of his power as he dominated from the opening bell, peppering Nakatani with a steady stream of hard, straight left. Lomachenko was hit with only 12% of Nakatani's power punches.
Lomachenko's biggest round before the ninth was a disastrous sixth, during which he hit several punches that caused Nakatani's head to swing backward several times, eventually leaving the Osaka-native's eyes, nose, and mouth bleeding.
Lomachenko also knocked out Nakatani in the fifth, using a three-punch combo at the end of the round.
In his last fight, Nakatani was knocked out twice by Felix Verdejo, before reacting with a ninth-round KO victory. This time, Nakatani never got a chance as he was overtaken by the former pound-for-pound Ukrainian great in every round.
"I've accomplished my goals and I'm back on track," Lomachenko said.
With the win, Lomachenko is hoping to land a rematch against Lopez, who was set to defend his first title in Miami on June 19, until he tested positive for COVID-19. . His mandatory bout against Jorge Combosos and the entire undercard has been rescheduled for August 14 in Miami, but could be moved to September 11 in Las Vegas.
López's father, Teofimo Sr., was present and told ESPN before the fight that his son's camp was ready for a rematch, but with the caveat that it was to happen shortly after the Combos bout.
Lomachenko's loss to Lopez cost the 33-year-old his WBA and WBO lightweight titles and left the former unified champion in search of a division that inherited a youth movement of undefeated fighters including Lopez (16-0), Gervonta Davis met. (24-0), Devin Haney (26-0) and Ryan Garcia (21-0).
The Lopez rematch could happen later this year or early 2022, while top-ranked Bob Arum mentioned matches against Haney and Tank Davis for Lomachenko.
In a 10-round middleweight co-feature, 2016 Olympian Janibek Alimkhanuli (10-0, 6 KO) continued his ascension up the contenders ladder with an impressive TKO destruction from former world champion Rob Brant (26-3, 18 KO) . The fight was halted after the eighth round, when Brent's cornman requested referee Michael Ortega.
While Aleemkhanuli landed 46% of his power punches (including 20 on 65 body out of 142), Brent struggled to find the confidence to challenge the entire fight, fully alert to Aleemkhanuli's counter punches.
"Ever since I turned pro, I've wanted a big fight like this," Alimkhanuli said. "Whenever a title shot comes, I'll be ready."