Hindsight is a beautiful thing and in this situation in particular i think its being under utilized. Okay on the face of it Rigo looks like the better fighter and a few posters will say that regardless, i for one cannot make a reasonable judgement at this point in time until i see what Lomachenko goes onto achieve. Both Rigo and Lomachenko were hugely successful amateurs and in this department there is very little to split them, both were very successful whilst using very different styles to take advantage of what is essentially an exercise in point scoring. When comparing Loma and Rigo its quite clear that the latter has a style that easily translates to the pro game, weaknesses that Rigo may have through not being experienced in the pro game are more difficult to exploit because he's never "there" to be hit, he doesnt engage with his opponent and thus an opponent cannot bully him around. Loma or the other hand although fleet of foot and hand much like Rigo is by and large a more aggressive competitor, he likes to use his fleet of foot, hand and quick agility to create angles, he tries to turn his opponent inside out whilst being either in the pocket or on the inside. In terms of skill both are very difficult to seperate, in terms of functional skill and the intangibles that are the difference between succeeding in the pro game and failing i feel the younger Lomachenko needs more work. I think the biggest mistake on display Saturday night was the timing of the fight with Salido, to successfully navigate past the awkward Mexican Lomachenko required experience as much as skill. In 400 amateur bouts, how many of those opponents would be a rugged, determined, strong, relentless Mexican, not many if any at all. Salido has a style designed to be successful within the pro game and it was something that Lomachenko has never seen or had to deal with before. Every single amateur habit or weakness that Lomachenko has was magnified by being in the ring with a fighter who is as far from an amateur as can be, sustained body attack just for example are something that Lomachenko is not accustomed to nor equipped (yet) to deal with. This for me is just an example of many things Lomachenko could have learnt to deal with if he had beat brought along at the same pace as Rigo for example. Im not sure Rigo would have come through that fight if he had taken that on so early in his pro career, it would be a complete shock to the system and its why fighters that are new to the pro game are given small challenges and small steps up as opposed to one introductory fight and then straight into the lions den. Im sure Lomachenko will come good and will prove himself the goods, for the moment however i'd refrain from taking stupidly large steps and concentrate on refining his game to suite the pro game.
