Report: Vasiliy Lomachenko To Defend Unified Lightweight Titles In April
Less than a week after unifying the WBA and WBO lightweight titles, Vasiliy Lomachenko’s next fight is already being worked on.
According to a report from ESPN, Top Rank is planning to have Lomachenko defend his titles on April 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The fight would headline a boxing card on an ESPN platform, but the report did not specify whether or not it would be on the main television channel or on the ESPN+ streaming service.
An opponent has not been determined, but there is a good chance it would be against the winner of Richard Commey vs. Isa Chaniev. The two are set to fight for the vacant IBF lightweight title on the February 2 ESPN card headlined by Eleider Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev for the WBO light heavyweight belt. The lightweight title bout has yet to be announced, but it is expected to be official soon.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist unified the two lightweight titles with a unanimous decision win over two-time world champion Jose Pedraza. Lomachenko knocked Pedraza down twice in the 11th round in Lomachenko’s first fight since undergoing surgery for a torn labrum earlier this year.
Lomachenko has been one of the top draws in the United States with his last fight against Pedraza attracting the second-largest television audience for a boxing fight on cable for 2018. Lomachenko is a three-division champion who has given ESPN three straight broadcasts averaging more than a million viewers with all three fights taking place at Madison Square Garden.
