By Ian S Palmer
WBO Super Featherweight Champion Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine will be moving up in weight again as he challenges WBA Lightweight Champion Jorge Linares of Venezuela this Saturday, May 12th. The 12-round bout takes place at Madison Square Garden and can be seen live in the USA on ESPN and ESPN Deportes while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on BoxNation and those in Canada can see it on TSN 3. Lomachenko last fought in December when former world champion and fellow southpaw Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba quit on him after six rounds. Linares was last in the ring in January when he beat Mercito Gesta by a unanimous decision.
Lomachenko won his current WBO title against Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez of Puerto Rico via a fifth-round stoppage in June, 2016 and is also a former WBO Featherweight Champion. The 30-year-old Lomachenko, known as Hi Tech, now fights out of Oxnard, California, has a pro record of just 10-1 with 8 Kos, but is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world at the moment. Lomachenko’s lone loss came at the hands of Orlando Salido by controversial split decision in March, 2014 in his second pro fight.
He turned pro in 2013 after winning two Olympic gold medals for his homeland in 2008 and 2012. Lomachenko obviously enjoyed an excellent and extensive amateur career and then won the WBO Featherweight crown against Gary Russell Jr. via majority decision in June of 2014. He defended it against Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, Gamalier Rodriguez, and Romulo Koasicha before moving up in weight. The champion possesses fantastic footwork, speed, and accuracy with good power and overall ring generalship, which often leaves his opponents totally frustrated.
In general, Lomachenko tends to break his opponents down with solid combinations and body and head shots. He stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a wingspan of 65.5 inches. He’s fought just 93 rounds since turning pro with a current knockout ratio of 73 per cent. Lomachenko has become a more aggressive boxer with each passing fight in the pro ranks and his power is becoming more dominant. However, he’ll be fighting a fine technician in Linares.
The 32-year-old Linares is a former WBC Champ and is defending the WBA Title for the fourth time. He won the belt and defended it against Anthony Crolla by unanimous decisions then stopped Darleys Perez in the ninth round before beating edging Luke Campbell by split decision and then beating Gesta.
He enters the ring at 44-3 with 27 Kos under his belt. Linares has plenty of experience, skill and speed and also a former featherweight and super featherweight world champion and has recently been living in Japan.
Linares won the vacant WBC Lightweight Belt in December, 2014 by stopping Javier Prieto in the fourth round in Tokyo. However, the WBC stripped him of the title in February, 2016 after suffering a hand injury and being unable to defend the title. They then named him WBC Diamond Champion for what it’s worth. Linares’ three losses have been against Juan Salgado in 2009, Antonio DeMarco in 2011 and Sergio Thompson in 2012. Those defeats revealed a questionable chin since all three men stopped him.
His biggest wins have been over Campbell, Anthony Crolla (twice), Jesus Chavez, Oscar Larios, Nihito Arakawa and Rocky Juarez. The Venezuelan champ stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69-inch reach and has fought 292 rounds since turning pro back in 2002. Linares has decent power as he carries a 57 per cent knockout ratio around with him, but has gone the distance in his last four fights. His last stoppage win came over Ivano Cano in the fourth round in 2015. He’ll have a two-inch edge in height over Lomachenko as well as a 3.5-inch reach advantage.
Prediction…
Linares is a fine boxer, but has been hard pressed in several of his most recent fights and hasn’t stopped anybody in almost three years. This fight start off as bit of a chess match, but Lomachenko should gradually become more dominant with each round. After seeing Lomachenko handle Rigondeaux and considering three stoppage defeats for Linares, it’s almost impossible not to side with Lomachenko here.
