Vasyl Lomachenko will defend his lightweight titles against former beltholder Anthony Crola on April 12th at Staples Center in Los Angeles, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
We thought Loma would be fighting Richard Commey, but because of his hand surgery, a small procedure on a ligament, the focus obviously moved to Loma fulfilling his mandatory against Crolla once that happened. We’ll look to unify the titles with Commey afterward, in the late summer,” Top Rank Vice-President Carl Moretti told ESPN on Tuesday night, shortly after the deal with Crolla was made.
“Loma wants all the titles at lightweight, and he wants to keep them and defend them,” Moretti said.
“It’s a huge opportunity for Anthony Crolla,” Crolla Promoter Eddie Hearn said. “He has earned his stripes, a former world champ who has fought the best. He won the final eliminator against Yordan in November, and I’m happy he gets this chance now. Lomachenko is a great talent, but Anthony is in great shape and ready for this chance.”
