Masayoshi Nakatani vs Vasyl Lomachenko Boxing Picks, Odds, Predictions 6/26/21

Vasyl Lomachenko and Masayoshi Nakatani fight Saturday in a boxing match at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Lomachenko enters this fight with a 14-2 record that includes 10 knockouts. Nakatani enters this fight with a 19-1 record that includes 13 knockouts.

Lomachenko has won five his last six fights, and he’s coming off an October loss to Teófimo López. The fight snapped a 13-fight winning streak and lost the WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles. The Matrix hopes to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in his career.

Lomachenko is a 33-year-old southpaw who stands at 5’7” and has a 65-inch reach. He is one of the best technical fighters in the sport with ridiculous footwork and defense, and he’s usually very hard to hit consistently. Lomachenko has quick hands offensively, puts combinations together nicely and has enough pop to end things. 

However, Lomachenko has some doubters to silence after his last performance. He was hit a ton his last time out and looked to be running out of gas late. This will be Lomachenko’s sixth career fight in Nevada.

Nakatani has won five of his last six fights, and he’s coming off a December win over Felix Verdejo. He is coming off a comfortable ninth round knockout that earned him the WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.

Nakatani is a 32-year-old Japanese fighter who stands at 5’11”, has a 71-inch reach and an orthodox stance. He’s massive for this division, has legit knockout power and throws a mean overhand right that can do serious damage. Nakatani throws accurate punches and his cardio is impressive as well, as he doesn’t slow down much later in fights.

Nakatani will work the body here and there, but he head hunts a ton and appears to have a killer instinct. Defensively, Nakatani has respectable head movement and slips punches well. For his size, he’s not a standing target you may expect he would be.

While his resume is just now improving, Nakatani has the tools to shock the boxing world. This will be Nakatani’s third career fight in the United States.

Lomachenko is the favorite for obvious reasons, as before his recent bout, he was considered by some to be the best pound for pound fighter in the world. He’s one of the more complete boxers in the sport. With that said, Nakatani is no slouch, and he just took Lopez to 12 rounds and knocked out Verdejo. Japan has a good boxing scene right now and Nakatani is in the same conversation with Naoya Inoue for the best in the country. The guy can fight and is eager to prove he deserves a rematch with Lopez.

Boxing lines are usually lopsided and it’s sometimes hard to make money in this sport. However, in terms of the odds, Nakatani and the big plus money is worth consideration. This will not be a walk in the park for Lomachenko.

Give me Nakatani for the upset.