Re: Been watching Lomachenko- It is NOT his hand speed!
Not sure what "IT" is referring to.. but if its referring to what makes him so good... There's quite a few things that put him on the level he's on.
Footwork: As Ron Swanson said, his footwork is far and away better than a lot of fighters. His time in dance school formed good habits and agility when it comes to balance and posture as well dexterity when it comes to pivoting, and moving in an out at angles. Whats more is that his body moves as one as opposed to someone like say a Zab Judah who can good head movement and great reflexes, but moving the body at the waist without adjusting his feet left Zab open to the occasional flash knockdown and often had him losing the game of inches because he could only bend so far up top witch his feet cemented before leaving him off balance or prone to long straight right hands. Loma tends to move both which is why hes always in a position to fire.
Angles: A big part of Lomachenko's offense, and defense for that matter, is his ability to work the angles... Not just of his attack but of his opponents. He works a lot of angles that a lot of conventional fighters consider a wast of time. For example: looping uppercuts under the elbows from the side--10 and 2 o clock positions (Many fighters consider this fruitless due to a decrease in leverage and don't want to risk muscle/tendon damage that can result from contact with the point of the elbow.) Lomachenko will throw a light arm punch or jab toward his opponents head to bring the opponents guard high, raising and rotating the points of the elbows forward and then looping the uppercut under the lower tricep which is softer and flatter surface and presents less of an obstruction. Loma also uses throwaway punches (pitty patts) to freeze his opponent and then slides off and can target the liver from the 2'o clock position with a straight punch rather than just standing in the cross hairs and trying to loop a hook around the elbow.
Guile:A lot of his work is done through this method. Angle, distract/divert your attention to where he wants it, and then targets the spot you just left open. Like those times where he shoots an arm straight out to the side to bait a fighter to feinting to the opposite side to line them up to the punch he wants to catch them with. He'll also deliberately leave a spot uncovered knowing his opponents will find the opening too inviting so he can counter them. Many of these take advantage of the body's natural mechanics and instincts/reflexes as a fighter and have them betray you. If you're shelled up along the ropes, he'll use his lead hand to pull your glove away while simultaneously throwing a hook with the rear hand. When you're guard is high and someone starts to pull your hand down and away, your body's natural inclination is retract and tighten your hand/arm and engage in a tug of war. Which essentially leaves you frozen at the instance this happens. So you've been hit before you realize what just happened. (Where as someone like say a wing chun practitioner has been trained over the years to roll their hand in (towards the center of their body) and under and intercept with a straight punch instead of resisting).
Short explosive movements: If you study a lot of Loma's training, you'll see that much of that (including footwork and visual acuity drills) contain strength and pliability exercises. Especially exercises that employ short explosive movements. Like hopping across the ring on his hands while someone walks behind him holding his ankles wheel barrow style. These type of exercises are designed to give you maximum and power in short range (wing chun practitioners also use similar exercises).
All of these things are layered on top each other and working together against the opponent. I would stay away from the higher weights for now. Big guys that can't be hurt will not allow him as much time for cerebral plotting. The weight bullies like Salido will just swarm and look to make the fight ugly if he cant earn their respect.
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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