By Ian S Palmer
WBA Super World Lightweight Titleholder Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine will be taking on WBO Lightweight Champion Jose Pedraza of Puerto Rico this Saturday, December 8th. The 12-round bout can be seen on ESPN and ESPN Deportes in the USA while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on BoxNation and those in Canada can see it on TSN 4. The fight will be coming from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Lomachenko last fought in May when he took the WBA title from Jorge Linares via a 10th-round stoppage. Pedraza’a last outing came in August when he took the WBO crown from Raymundo Beltran by unanimous decision.
The 30-year-old southpaw Lomachenko, known as ‘Hi Tech’, has also held the WBO Super Featherweight and Featherweight titles. He now fights out of Oxnard, California and has a pro record of just 11-1 with 9 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.
He then beat Roman Martinez by fifth-round KO in June of 2016 for the Super Featherweight Title and defended it against Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux. Lomachenko possesses fantastic footwork, speed, and accuracy with good power and overall ring generalship, which often leaves his opponents totally frustrated. He’s got a good chin, but Linares did drop him in the sixth round back in May.
In general, Lomachenko tends to break his opponents down with solid combinations and body and head shots. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a wingspan of 65.5 inches. He’s fought 103 rounds since turning pro with a current knockout ratio of 75 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 Pedraza.
The 29-year-old Pedraza is a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion. He lost that belt in his third defence though when Gervonta Davis stopped him in the seventh round in January of 2017. Since then he’s beaten Jose Luis Rodriguez, Antonio Moran and Beltran by unanimous decisions. Pedraza will climb through the ropes with an impressive mark of 25-1 with 12 Kos. He’s 5-feet-8-inches tall with a reach of 71 inches, giving him a slight one-inch edge in height and a 5.5-inch reach advantage over Lomachenko.
Pedraza prefers to fight from the outside and it may be possible against the champion due to his reach advantage. Pedraza won the vacant IBF Super Featherweight Title in June of 2015 when he beat Andrey Klimov by unanimous decision. He then defended the crown twice by beating Edner Cherry and Stephen Smith by split and unanimous decisions respectively. Pedraza turned pro in 2011 and isn’t really known as much of a banger as his knockout ratio is also 46 per cent, but his power shouldn’t be underestimated.
The former champ has fought 179 rounds as a pro and also owns a unanimous decision win over Alberto Garza in 2014 and a seventh-round TKO over Sergio Reyes a year earlier. Pedraza had a fine, extensive amateur career and represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China where he lost in the second round. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBC Youth World, USBA, and IBO World Super Featherweight Titles and the WBO Latino Lightweight Crown.
Prediction…
Pedraza has fine boxing skills and he should be competitive if he utilizes his reach advantage. This fight may start off as bit of a chess match, but Lomachenko should gradually become more dominant with each round and take over. Pedraza is a solid pro and champion, but Lomachenko is in the elite class and should leave the ring with both belts.
