Christopher Diaz vs. Masayuki Ito Set For Vacant WBO 130-pound Title Next Month
With Vasiliy Lomachenko officially vacating his WBO super featherweight title, Christopher Diaz and Masayuki Ito have officially agreed to fight for the vacant title.
Diaz and Ito will fight for the title on July 28 in Kissimmee, Florida as the main event of a Top Rank Boxing card that will be streamed on ESPN+. The fight will crown a new champion after Lomachenko vacated the title last month, which was expected after Lomachenko moved up in weight and won the WBA lightweight title on May 12 with a knockout victory over Jorge Linares.
The two contenders had expected Lomachenko would defeat Linares, win the WBA lightweight title and then vacate the WBO 130-pound title, so negotiations started before the May 12 fight.
Diaz, an undefeated Puerto Rican who holds the WBO-NABO title, is coming off a win a stoppage win, his fourth straight, over Braulio Rodriguez. Diaz also owns a win over former bantamweight world title challenger Fernando Vargas back in 2016.
Ito is a former OPBF champion and is also coming off a stoppage win earlier this year, a ninth-round TKO win over Vergil Puton back in March. The 27-year-old Ito has won his last seven fights with his lone loss coming in his only fight for the Japanese super featherweight title.
In the 10-round co-feature bout of the card, undefeated welterweight prospect Carlos Adames will face Artemio Reyes. Adames, who is 14-0 as a pro, last fought on that same May 12 Top Rank Boxing card that Lomachenko headlined.
