Vasyl Lomachenko forces Nicholas Walters to quit after 7

Vasyl Lomachenko was a heavy favorite, and some questioned the odds for his fight with Nicholas Walters. After watching him dismantle Nicholas Walters, it might be fair to wonder if he should have been an even heavier favorite.

Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KO) picked Walters (26-1-1, 21 KO) apart for about five rounds, before starting to really just clown him in the sixth and especially seventh rounds, after which Walters quit on his stool, when asked by referee Tony Weeks if he wanted to continue.

“No,” he said. “I don’t.”

It is an emphatic year-ending victory for Lomachenko, the 28-year-old Ukrainian amateur legend who really may just be entering his physical prime. The idea that Lomachenko might actually not have completely peaked right now is kind of scary, given the ease with which he defeated Walters, a top-ranked contender and former titleholder at 126 pounds, someone who overpowered and knocked out Nonito Donaire in 2014.

Any worries that Lomachenko’s chin might get tested by the heavy-handed Jamaican faded pretty quickly, as his footwork made it nearly impossible for Walters to actually connect on much more than the occasional body shot.

At this point, having seen what he can do against another respected opponent, how high do you have Lomachenko in your pound-for-pound rankings?