BOXING, I have said in this column more than once, is a mirror like no other sport in the way that it reflects the best and worst of the human condition. What’s unusual is to see both on display on the same night on opposite sides of the world.

The former took place in Las Vegas last weekend, where the seemingly invincible Ukrainian maestro of the squared circle, Vasily Lomachenko, locked horns with a hardly ripe 23 year old Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York by way of Honduras. What ensued was the near complete shutdown of Loma by Lopez over 12 rounds in the kind of controlled and disciplined performance you’d associate with a veteran of the sport, rather than one so young.

Though “ordinary” is not a word you would normally ever place either before or after the name of Vasily Lomachenko in a sentence written while in full command of your faculties, ordinary is precisely how the 32-year-old former WBO, WBC and WBA lightweight champion looked for long stretches of the fight, reflected in the wide unanimous decision the judges awarded Lopez at the final bell. 

The 23-year old had entered the ring with the IBF title in his possession and left it 36 minutes later with all four belts and the mantle of undisputed.

However here now follows a crucial “but.” 

Because while taking nothing away from Lopez or his excellent performance, to those who’ve followed closely and been scintillated by his oft times inhuman feats in a pair of boxing gloves, Loma, known as “The Matrix,” appeared a mere shadow of himself. From the off there was a distinct lack of his usual vim and snap, while his trademark feet seemed to have decided to take the night off.

That he wasn’t right was subsequently confirmed a few days after the fight with the revelation that he’d injured his shoulder in training six weeks prior and was now in hospital having surgery on it.

That neither Lomachenko or his team cited the injury as an excuse during the usual post-fight press conference and media appearances is testament to the truism that it’s not in victory but in defeat that a person’s true character is revealed. 

The hardship that is part and parcel of a fighter’s preparation for a fight is exacerbated by the inevitable injuries picked up amid the gruelling, endless rounds of sparring and the hard conditioning required to get in shape, mentally and physically. At a certain stage in a fighter’s career, injury is a constant companion as the body starts to protest at the regular punishment being inflicted on it. It’s why every elite fighter will at some point have to face the decision of whether to train and fight on with an injury, or whether to pull out. 

In the Ukrainian’s case, on this occasion, the decision to go into his encounter with Teofimo Lopez carrying a shoulder injury was in retrospect clearly a mistake. Whether if he’d been injury- or major injury-free going in, he would have won, is moot. The fight’s over, Lopez took all the marbles, and he now looks forward to the abundant opportunities that are his reward. 

The question of whether Vasily Lomachenko can come back and regain his place at the apex of the sport as a world and pound-for-pound champion is one that only time can answer. Perhaps he might be wise to consider small, going back down to 130, what with Lopez appearing considerably bigger in comparison at 135. 

The one non-negotiable ingredient that will drive any comeback, if there’s to be one for, is hunger.

How much does he want it? How many gruelling training camps does he have left in the tank? And how much can he attribute his unanimous defeat against the young Honduran-American pretender to injury or father time? From the top of the mountain to the bottom and back to the top again is a trial of psychological, physical and spiritual strength that would break all but the most insanely driven.

Once again, time will tell.

Time, turning now to one of the sport’s less than savoury aspects, will also tell whether boxing will ever get its house in order where judging is concerned. The latest example of horrific judging in a far-too-regular pattern came at the East of England Showground Arena in Peterborough last weekend, in a fight involving Newcastle’s Lewis Ritson and Miguel Vasquez of Mexico.

You’d have to have stick-on-eyes to have scored this contenst in favour of the home fighter at the close, which is exactly what two of the three judges proceeded to do. One of those who gave the decision to Ritson, Terry O’Connor, has not been a stranger to controversy in his time as both a judge and referee. Last Saturday he found himself a source of such again.

In turning in a scorecard of 117-111 in Ritson’s favour, the resulting chorus of condemnation from fans, pundits, trainers and others involved in the game vented in his direction was more than justified. Even Eddie Hearn, Ritson’s promoter, felt minded to wade in with his criticism of the decision and of O’Connor’s judging in particular, describing his as “a disgrace of a [score]card.”

Further still, in the days following the fight the image of O’Connor sitting ringside apparently looking at either a phone or a notepad while the fight was ongoing began circulating on social media, prompting calls for him to be immediately suspended by the Board and an investigation undertaken into his conduct.

The salient point is that the kind of outrageous judging witnessed in Peterborough last weekend is corrosive in a sport in which a bad or wrong decision marks the difference between a fighter’s career progression or regression. Fighters suffer and sacrifice enough for their craft. Adding to that suffering and sacrifice the feeling of being cheated of victory after the rigours of a long training camp and a performance that everyone watching knows merited one is the other side of criminal.

In such situations, the judge or judges concerned should be made to explain the reasoning behind a controversial decision and scorecard in front of a panel, and if the decision is deemed wrong then it should be changed and the win awarded to the rightful victor. And if a given judge is guilty of more than one unacceptably wide scorecard in a given period, suspension should follow

The integrity of the sport demands nothing less.