Lomachenko moving to 135 for shot at Linares
As previously reported by 3KingsBoxing.com P4P star Vasyl Lomachenko will move up to lightweight and be back later this spring. Initially we were told that Lomachenko would return to the ring on April 28th but it is now possible the date is pushed back to May.
The reason for the move in return date is to make sure his likely opponent Jorge Linares has enough time to rest a little after Saturday’s fight against Mercito Gesta. Although Linares won a fairly lopsided decision he still went the full distance and did suffer a cut.
When asked earlier this evening Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum gave a little insight into when the fight is most likely to happen.
“It’s being worked on now.” Arum said. “We want to make sure that Linares is OK and ready to go. Depending on how he feels, the fight will be either April 28 or May 12. Linares is a tremendous fighter. He’s a guy with an excellent résumé and a good name.”
“I’ve been communicating with Lomachenko through Egis and they are both very enthusiastic about this fight, as is Lomachenko’s father [trainer Anatoly Lomachenko].”
Arum was also asked if a tune-up at 135 was a consideration before Linares and he said:
“Lomachenko don’t need tune-up fights. He don’t want any tune-up fights either. This kid is special.”
After the Gesta fight Oscar De La Hoya said that he was ready to make the fight between Linares and Lomachenko and told Arum to call him. Although Arum said he hasn’t talked to Golden Boy about the fight, he has been working on the deal with Linares’ primary promoter, Akihiko Honda President of Teiken Promotions.
Arum said that once him and Honda reach a deal then he will send the provision of service contract to Golden Boy and they would then decide the venue, ticket logistics and travel.
While the location of where the fight would take place is still unknown, Arum did say part of the deal with Honda is that the fight would be televised by ESPN as part of the Top Rank on ESPN platform.
By: Chris Henderson
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