Vasiliy Lomachenko’s quest to win another world title will see him make the transition from super featherweight to the lightweight division where he challenge Jorge Linares for the WBA title.
The fight will headline a big top Rank Boxing on ESPN at Madison Square Garden on May 12 in what is the next chapter for one of the sport's newest superstars in Lomachenko.
Lomachenko, who has won world titles at featherweight and super featherweight, is looking to follow up on his incredible performance last year against former top 10 pound-for-pound boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux at Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko won that fight by stoppage when Rigondeaux appeared to have given up halfway through the fight, adding another tale to the legend of what the boxing community has called "No-Mas Chenko" after making his last several opponents give up during their respective fights.
The win over Rigondeaux put Lomachenko at the top of many pound-for-pound lists, cementing him as one of the most exciting boxers today. Lomachenko not only had one of the quickest rise to being a world champion after being one of the few boxers in history to win two Olympic gold medals.
Linares has held the WBA title for years and after battles with Anthony Crolla and Luke Campbell, Linares may be facing the toughest opponent to date. Linares has had one of the more unique career paths in boxing, leaving his native country of Venezuela to fight in Japan through the majority of his early years as a pro boxer. A two-time lightweight champion, Linares won the WBA title in 2016 in his first fight against Crolla. Linares had plans to fight WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia as the WBC ordered Garcia and Linares, who also owns the WBC Diamond, but the fight fell through with Garcia electing to fight for a world title at junior welterweight.
The rest of the card will see a number of Top Rank prospects that are slowly making a splash in their respective divisions. Top prospects such as Michael Conlan, Teofimo Lopes Jr. and Jamel Herring are all fighting on the undercard of the fight.
Here is the main televised card (8 p.m. EST/ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN+):
- Jorge Linares vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko: WBA Lightweight Title bout
- Carlos Adames vs. Alejandro Barrera
Here is the untelevised undercard (4 p.m. EST/WatchESPN, ESPN+):
- Michael Conlan vs. Ibon Larrinaga
- Teofimo Lopez Jr. vs. Vitor Freitas
- Jamel Herring vs. Juan Pablo Sanchez
- Fazliddin Gaibnazarov vs. Jesus Silveyra
- Mikaela Mayer vs. Baby Nansen
Tale of the Tape:
Vasiliy Lomachenko:
- Record: 10-1 (8 KO)
- Age: 30
- Height: 5'7"
- Reach: 65.5"
- Titles Won: WBO Super Featherweight, WBO Featherweight, WBO International Featherweight
- Notable Opponents: Guillermo Rigondeaux, Nicholas Walters, Roman Martinez, Gary Russell Jr., Orlando Salido
Jorge Linares:
- Record: 44-3 (27 KO)
- Age: 32
- Height: 5'8"
- Reach: 69"
- Titles Won: WBA Lightweight, WBC Diamond, WBC Lightweight, Interim WBC Fedelatin Lightweight, WBA Super Featherweight, WBC Featherweight, WBA Fedecentro Featherweight, WBA Fedelatin Featherweight, WBA Fedelatin Super Bantamweight
- Notable Opponents: Luke Campbell, Anthony Crolla, Antonio DeMarco, Juan Carlos Salgado
Betting Odds (Provided By Paddy Power):
- Vasiliy Lomachenko Winning: 1/12
- Jorge Linares Winning: 6/1
- Fight Ends In A Draw: 25/1
- Vasiliy Lomachenko Winning By Points/Decision: 7/4
- Jorge Linares Winning By Points/Decision: 14/1
- Vasiliy Lomachenko Winning By KO/TKO: 8/11
- Jorge Linares Winning By KO/TKO: 10/1
- Fight Goes The Distance: 6/4
- Fight Does Not Go The Distance: 1/2
