Top Rank announces date for a lightweight unification clash between Vasyl Lomachenko and Teófimo López
It's official. The contracts have been signed and the date is set. On October 17th, pound for pound star Vasyl Lomachenko (14-1) will put his WBA, WBO, and THE RING titles on the line against IBF champion Teófimo López (15-0).
Surely one of the biggest fights to be announced since Covid-19 disrupted the industry at the beginning of the year, Loma-López will see the lightweight division crown its number one fighter.
Lomachenko, who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greats, will enter the ring as the favourite despite having suffered one loss in his 15 pro fights while López has remained undefeated in his 15.
It will be Lomachenko's 15th consecutive world title fight in a career that spans three weight classes and has seen him best the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jorge Linares and Luke Campbell.
For López, this will be only his second outing at world level after sensationally Knocking out Richard Commey to claim the IBF belt in December of last year. Despite lacking Lomachenko's big-fight experience, López is supremely confident that he has what it takes to stop the Ukrainian. He told ESPN:
"I'm a big 135 pounder... he's decreasing man.
I'm not even in my prime yet and I'm here just outdoing guys. This guy, he's already on his way out and it's showing.
Your body can only take so much damage, and I guarantee you, we're gonna put some damage to this man."
The winner will be considered undisputed at the weight, however, there is somewhat of a grey area here as Lomachenko was elevated to WBC franchise Champion back in 2019 allowing Devin Haney to pick up the vacated WBC belt. So what does this mean? Well, should Lomachenko lose, he stills retains his status as WBC franchise champion - there is no WBC title on the line. This means that while López might be considered 'undisputed' should he win, he'll technically still have to get hold of Haney's WBC title to make it official.
Where is Lomachnko vs López taking place and how can you watch it?
The fight will take place in Top Rank's Las Vegas 'bubble' at the MGM Grand Conference Center. As expected, there won't be an audience present but fans will be pleased to know that the action will all be aired via ESPN with no Pay per view charge. An undercard is yet to be announced.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said via Twitter:
"It's really important for the sport of boxing to get back to big fights. @VasylLomachenko vs. @TeofimoLopez is certainly one of the GREAT fights.
Thanks to @espn, the #LomaLopez showdown will be shown without any additional charge to the public. A huge night for the sport."
Have an opinion? Leave a comment...