Lomachenko vs Crolla: Sky Sports boxing expert Darren Barker says Vasyl Lomachenko showed why he is rated the pound-for-pound king
Barker: "That boy is punch perfect, he made a real statement there. He showed why he's arguably number one pound-for-pound fighter out there, he's just got it all."
Saturday 13 April 2019 21:15, UK
Vasyl Lomachenko produced a punch-perfect performance in the four-round stoppage of Anthony Crolla to prove himself as the No 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, says Darren Barker.
Lomachenko successfully defended his WBA and WBO lightweight titles with a brutal four-round knockout of mandatory challenger Anthony Crolla at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Ukrainian three-weight great is determined to cement his name in boxing history by collecting all four titles and called out WBC champion Mikey Garcia after crushing Crolla.
"That boy is punch perfect, he made a real statement there. He showed why he's arguably No 1 pound-for-pound fighter out there, he's just got it all," said Barker.
"The fight with Mikey Garcia really, really does get the juices flowing, I know he lost recently to Errol Spence but he was moving up in weight, so dropping back down, for me is a mouth-watering contest."
Fellow pundit Spencer Oliver believes the fight should have been waved off in the third round when Lomachenko pinned Crolla on the ropes and unleashed a barrage of unanswered punches.
"Lomachenko was using his feet, putting Anthony Crolla under, amazing pressure, right from the opening bell," said Oliver.
"He landed a left hook that made Crolla's leg's stiffen; the fight should have been stopped there, he wasn't coming back, the referee jumped in, it was over.
"I don't care what anyone says, that fight was over there and then. I think it was bad refereeing, he gave him the count but the writing was always on the wall and the inevitable was always going to happen."
