A deal to pit two-time Olympic Gold Medal winners Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux on December 9th in Madison Square Garden is close to being finalized, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“It would be a historic milestone in my professional career,” said Lomachenko promoter Bob Arum, 85, said of the possible fight. “It’s never been done before — each of them winning two gold medals and fighting each other. That’s something special. That will be remembered in history.”
“Bob Arum is having discussions with Roc Nation Sports and Dino Duva about the fight,” Top rank’s Todd duBoef said.
“We are in good, positive, serious talks and hoping it can get done. We’re close to a deal. We don’t have any contracts done yet, and hopefully we can get a deal done,” Duva said Sunday night. “We’re in a pretty good place from all angles, and we’re hopeful we can get it done very soon. I’ve been talking to Bob. We’ve had very good talks. We’re trying to fine-tune the deal to make sure the fighters and the companies are happy. I am cautiously hopeful. It will be a great fight, a great, historic fight.”
“The weight is not an issue,” Duva said. “Rigo feels like he can go anywhere from 122 to 130 pounds. Rigo wants to and has to make a statement, and this is the fight he can make a statement in. He feels he can beat anybody. He realizes Lomachenko is a tough fight, but if this is made, it is a great fight for fans and a great fight for boxing.”
“Rigondeaux is a helluva fighter. He’s not going to be boring with Lomachenko. Lomachenko won’t let him be boring,” said Arum, who used to promote Rigondeaux.
Added Duva: “Lomachenko will make Rigo fight. It will be very interesting. It’s a cool fight.”
