Sunday 1 September 2019 21:11, UK
Luke Campbell has shown a 'way to beat' Vasiliy Lomachenko, despite suffering a unanimous decision defeat at The O2, says Sky Sports expert Johnny Nelson.
The British lightweight produced a courageous effort, briefly stunning Lomachenko in the seventh round, but the Ukrainian star was ultimately too good and added the WBC belt to his WBA 'super' and WBO titles with scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
Sky Sports pundit Nelson believes Campbell still proved his worth at the top level and enjoyed telling moments of success against Lomachenko.
"When people say someone is pound-for-pound the best in the world, you can say it enough and everyone believes it," Nelson told Sky Sports. "Luke Campbell tonight proved that he is certainly world class.
"He also proved to me that there is a way to beat Lomachenko. He wasn't good enough to do it, but there is a way, because Luke showed stick-ability, he showed boxing ability, he showed determination, and he showed that Lomachenko, even though he's the best at the moment, he's not at the top of his tree. There is a lot more to go through with him."
Anthony Crolla also shared the ring with Lomachenko earlier this year, suffering a fourth-round knockout loss, and suggested that only a move up into another higher division could hamper the three-weight champion.
"I've said for a bit, the thing that beats Vasiliy Lomachenko is size, chasing greatness," said Crolla.
"That fourth weight I think, I don't think he'll go up to 140[lbs], I think he'll stay there and get the belts.
"Well, they're talking about him going down more than anything, but no I think the only thing that beats him is size."
Tony Bellew suffered defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk, another pound-for-pound star from the Ukraine, and urged Campbell to hold his head high after a creditable display.
"It's tough going forward, because I know what it's like after a shattering loss, it's heart breaking," said Bellew. "But you've lost to the best fighter in the whole world, and there's no shame in that.
"He done better than I actually thought he would. He was competitive, he nicked some rounds.
"I think the cards were very harsh on him. I do think he won a couple of rounds. I thought he was very good early doors, and like [trainer] Shane [McGuigan] said before, when that body shot landed, it took all the fight out of him."
