The arguable best pound-for-pound boxer in the world will fight again before the end of 2018.
After surgery to recover from a torn labrum, three-division world boxing champion Vasyl Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is set to make his return to the ring at the beginning of December, and it’s expected to be a title unification bout.
Lomachenko, who holds the WBA lightweight title, is slated to fight the winner of this Saturday’s WBO championship between Ray Beltran (35-7-1-1 NC, 21 KOs) and Jose Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs). While Beltran vs. Pedraza odds are all over the place as effectively a 50-50 contest, the winner is surely going to be a massive underdog against the Ukrainian juggernaut, although Pedraza might be more appealing by virtue of being much younger than Beltran. This fight should be easy to make considering all parties involved are under the Top Rank banner.
The Los Angeles Times confirmed the news with Top Rank officials and promoter Bob Arum earlier in the week. Lomachenko vs. Beltran-Pedraza would be held at The Forum in Inglewood, and ESPN+ is expected to broadcast the bout, as ESPN looks to heavily push its new streaming service.
The 30-year-old Lomachenko is coming off a thrilling win vs. Jorge Linares to win the WBA title, as he was knocked down in the fifth-round but came back to stop Linares in the tenth. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lomachenko is the fastest boxer in history to capture major world titles in three weight classes, and assuming Beltran-Pedraza is next, this will be his first opportunity to become a unified titleholder in a division.
Lomachenko was scheduled to return this month after besting Linares, but the aforementioned shoulder surgery pushed his next fight to December.
If the form guide holds up and he beats Beltran or Pedraza, all eyes will be on what’s in store for him in 2019, as calls for a showdown with Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) have grown louder and louder, while Manny Pacquiao has expressed interest in facing Loma. His fanbase has expanded considerably over the past couple of years, and either Garcia or even a faded version of Pacquiao could potentially elevate his star power even higher.