On Saturday night, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, we will again see one of the sport’s true virtuoso’s in action as Vasyl Lomachenko returns to the ring. The WBA and WBO lightweight champion from the Ukraine will fight on the ESPN + streaming app against former champion Anthony Crolla. The fight will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Lomachenko recently turned 31 years old and despite only having 13 fights (12-1, 9 knockouts), he is certainly a veteran in the game, given that he has a wealth of amateur experience that included two gold medals. And you have to wonder how exactly he is going to look against Crolla this weekend, as well as against future opponents moving forward.
Last year was eventful for Lomachenko, in that we saw him capture the two world titles he now holds. He rose from a seventh round knockdown vs. Jorge Linares in May, eventually stopping the brave Venezuelan in the 11th round. And in December he had a much tougher time than expected in winning a unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza in New York.
Lomachenko is still one of the most gifted fighters in the sport and the top pound for pound fighter according to some, but how much of his prime does he has left? He appears to be a little undersized at 135 pounds, and has even hinted that he may end up moving back down to 130 pounds if the right opportunity arises.
Against Linares he started well, only to see the tide turn after a straight right hand planted him on the canvas. Linares’ experience, size, timing, and accuracy seemed to give Lomachenko fits, but, like a true champion, he dug down and scored a thrilling knockout courtesy of a body shot.
Pedraza was able to have success vs. Lomachenko by boxing and using a steady volume of punches. It was clear that Lomachenko was off to a slow start, but a couple of late round knockdowns helped to seal the deal for him. And, to his credit, Lomachenko was recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered vs. Linares.
Crolla is honestly a huge underdog, so this may not be the fight for us to see just how much Vasyl still has. Crolla briefly held the WBA lightweight title before a pair of defeats to Linares set him back momentarily. He’s riding a three-fight winning streak and should give it a good shot, if anything else.
Fans have been clamoring to see Lomachenko in the ring with either junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis or four-division champion Mikey Garcia, but promotional conflicts could prevent us from seeing either fight. Both Davis and Garcia are aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions outfit.
Instead, it looks as thought IBF champion Richard Commey, who is recovering from a hand injury he suffered in his last fight. Commey is rough, tough, a good puncher, and has been in the ring with some real top fighters like Robert Easter and Denis Shafikov. Expect him to be the one to really push Lomachenko to the limit when they meet.