HBO Sports visits Maryland for the first time since 1979 when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: VASYL LOMACHENKO VS. JASON SOSA AND OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK VS. YUNIESKY GONZALEZ AND ALEKSANDR USYK VS. MIKE HUNTER is seen SATURDAY, APRIL 8 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: April 9 (8:45 a.m.) and April 11 (12:35 a.m.)

HBO2 playdate: April 10 (1:05 a.m.)

The fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

In a junior lightweight title fight, rising sensation Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine, puts his crown on the line against Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs), from Camden, NJ, in a scheduled 12-round contest. Named 2016 fighter of the year by several media outlets, the multi-talented Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has become a two-division world champion after just a handful of pro fights.

Known for his punching power and aggressive style, Sosa is on a five-year, 20-bout unbeaten streak, amassing a 70% knockout-to-win ratio along the way. With more professional ring experience, Sosa looks to derail Lomachenko’s momentum in the 130-pound division.

The middle bout is a ten-round light heavyweight fight that pits Oleksandr Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs) from Kharkiv, Ukraine, against Yuniesky Gonzalez (18-2, 14 KOs), a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, who now lives in Miami. Gvozdyk captured the bronze medal as a member of the 2012 Olympic team, which also included the other two Ukrainian fighters on the evening’s card. Gonzalez also has a rich amateur background, with more than 300 fights in his native Cuba, a hotbed of amateur boxing stars. Both men look to make a major impression in the talented 175-pound division.

Undefeated fighters vie for a cruiserweight title in the opening bout, as Aleksandr Usyk (11-0, 10 KOs) from Kiev, Ukraine, makes his second HBO appearance for a 12-round tilt with Mike Hunter (12-0, 8 KOs). Defending his 200-pound title belt, Usyk, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, trains in Onxard, Cal. Hunter hails from Las Vegas and was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.
All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.

The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jonathan Crystal; director, Johnathan Evans.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.

OXNARD, CALIF. (March 22, 2017) — Undefeated champions and 2012 Ukrainian Olympic medalists VASYL LOMACHENKO, ALEKSANDR USYK and OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK hosted a Media Workout at World Boxing Gymnasium in Oxnard, Calif. today. All three are in deep training for their title defenses, which will take place Saturday, April 8, at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD. The event has been sold out for weeks. Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Peltz Boxing Promotions, K2 Promotions, K2 Promotions Ukraine, Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Kiddar, the three title fights will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Lomachenko, Usyk and Gvozdyk were joined at their media workout by two-time Lithuanian Olympian “Mean Machine” Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who will be on the April 8 non-televised undercard in a six-round welterweight bout.

Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine, arguably boxing’s top pound for pound fighter, makes his 2017 debut coming off a year that saw him named “Fighter of the Year” by several media outlets. Already a two-division world champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lomachenko will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title against former World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight world champion JASON “El Canito” SOSA (20-1-4, 15 KOs), from Newark, NJ. Usyk (11-0, 10 KOs), from Kiev, Ukraine, and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, will be defending his WBO cruiserweight world title against Top-10 contender MIKE HUNTER (12-0, 8 KOs), from Las Vegas, Nev. Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs), from Kharkiv, Ukraine, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, enters this fight having won 10 of his last 12 fights by knockout. He will be defending his NABF light heavyweight title against YUNIESKY GONZALEZ (18-2, 14 KOs), a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, who lives and trains in Miami, Fla.

Here are the fighters’ quotes:

Vasyl Lomachenko

“Jason Sosa is very strong, is motivated, wants to win and he can fight all of the twelve rounds. It will be a hard fight. That I know.

“My Top-Three pound for pound list is GGG, Kovalev and Crawford. I don’t want to be Number One until I deserve it. That means fighting and winning against two or three world champions. After that I may be Number One but for sure not now.

“I like the weight division I am in. I have no problems making weight. I am not that anxious to leave my division and not sure I will ever fight at 140. It’s hard to look ahead but right now I am comfortable in my division where I have plenty of champions to fight against.”

Oleksandr Gvozdyk

“I am going into a serious fight against Yuniesky Gonzalez. He is strong, experienced, puts pressure on you, tries to drive you into the ropes. He’s a tough guy and I have to deal with him. I work hard every single day trying to be the best in my division.”

Alexsandr Usyk

“I have watched video of Michael Hunter and have a good idea of what he is all about. It’s going to be a great fight. As an amateur I was trained by the best – Anatoly Lomachenko – just look at who he has produced as great professional fighters.”

“Mean Machine” Egidijus Kavaliauskas

“I do get real mean the moment I leave the locker room, walk up the ring steps and get onto the canvas. And this is going to a big year for me. I am getting closer to my goal, a world title fight.”

*****************************

The HBO special 2 Days: Vasyl Lomachenko premieres This Saturday, March 25 at 12:10 a.m. (ET/PT) on HBO immediately following the replay of the two titles fights from Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

In addition to Kavaliauskas, the non-televised undercard will feature undefeated No. 1 super middleweight contender JESSE “Hard Work” HART from Philadelphia, PA., and local favorites from the metro Washington, D.C. area, including undefeated prospects MIKE “Yes Indeed” REED and PATRICK HARRIS in separate bouts.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomachenkoSosa to join the conversation on Twitter.

About MGM National Harbor
The newest addition to the MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) portfolio, MGM National Harbor has an unrivaled setting offering stunning panoramic views of the eastern shore of the Potomac River in Maryland. The $1.4 billion LEED® Gold Certified resort, which opened December 8, 2016, sits a short distance from Washington, D.C. to the north and historic sites, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate across the river in Virginia. The 24-story, 308-room resort features premier amenities and experiences for locals as well as visitors from around the world including a dynamic casino with over 125,000 square feet of space that includes slots, table games and poker; a world-class spa and salon; an entertainment theater with flexible seating for up to 3,000; high-end branded retail; 50,000 square feet of meeting space; and restaurants from renowned local, national and international chefs. For more information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

March 15, 2017 – HBO Sports® debuts an all-new installment of “2 Days” when the acclaimed feature segment returns Saturday, March 25 at 12:10 a.m. (ET/PT) with a behind-the-scenes look at the two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko.

“2 Days” is a revealing and intimate look at a 48-hour span in the life of a boxer in the lead-up to one of his fights and the next edition will focus on Ukrainian native Vasyl Lomachenko. HBO cameras followed the junior lightweight sensation and amateur standout last November when he faced off against Nicholas Walters at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The win was not only a total domination but a boxing masterpiece painted on the canvas by one of the most skilled fighters of his era or any era, Vasyl Lomachenko.

Lomachenko will make his 2017 ring debut on April 8 when he headlines HBO World Championship Boxing® from The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Lomachenko will defend his title against Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs). The telecast will begin at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

“2 Days” will also be available on the HBO On Demand® service, HBO NOW®, HBO GO®, affiliate portals and at www.hbo.com/boxing as well as various other new media platforms that distribute the series.

OXON HILL, MD (February 23, 2017) — The VASYL LOMACHENKO – JASON “El Canito” SOSA junior lightweight world championship event has become an embarrassment of Ukrainian riches with the addition of two title fights. Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight world champion and Olympic gold medalist OLEKSANDR USYK and NABF light heavyweight champion and Olympic bronze medalist OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK will be defending their titles against MIKE HUNTER and YUNIESKYI GONZALEZ, respectively, in all-action co-main event battles, Saturday, April 8, at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD. The Lomachenko, Usyk and Gvozdyk championship Ukrainian tripleheader will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The six televised championship fighters boast a combined record of 80-4-4 (62 KOs), good for a winning percentage of 91% with over 3/4 of those victories coming by way of knockout.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Peltz Boxing Promotions, K2 Promotions, K2 Promotions Ukraine and Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, remaining tickets for the Lomachenko-Sosa world championship event are priced at $153, $128, $103, $78 and $53, including all applicable service charges and taxes. They can be purchased online at mgmnationalharbor.com or ticketmaster.com. For more tour and ticket information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or call (844) 346-4664.

“I’m very happy to fight on the same card with Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, this is something we’ve been talking about since we were amateurs — to have three members of the 2012 Ukrainian Olympic Team in the same event,” said Usyk. “It’s fantastic to be able to do this. I would like to thank my promoters Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Krassyuk and Tom Loeffler from K2 Promotions along with my manager Egis Klimas and HBO, and also Bob Arum and Top Rank for adding me to this show. Michael Hunter is a tough, undefeated opponent and I’m certain that this will be a great show for the fans in attendance and those watching on HBO.”

“I’m excited for this fight because I asked for it. If I don’t knock him out, I’ll be surprised,” said Hunter.

“I’m happy to know the name of my next opponent. He is a strong fighter and a new challenge for me,” said Gvozdyk. “Thanks to Top Rank and HBO to making this happen.

“I’m very happy to be back on HBO thanks to Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, and my management team,” said Gonzalez. “I’m training hard at Mundo Boxing Gym and I’m going to be ready to win this fight”

“Top Rank is very proud to present these two compelling co-main event championship fights featuring Oleksandr Usyk, with K2 Promotions, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “In a historic first, HBO World Championship Boxing will present three title fights, featuring three Ukrainian champions defending their titles, and within eyesight of the Nation’s Capital.”

“We’re very excited to bring Oleksandr back to the United States and for this world title defense to be telecast on HBO,” said Tom Loeffler, Managing Director of K2 Promotions. “Both Oleksandr and Michael Hunter were 2012 Olympians who are undefeated as professionals. This is the second cruiserweight world title fight HBO has telecast recently and we’re honored to work with Peter Nelson and HBO on showcasing this division. Not since the epic battle between James Toney and Vasily Jirov in 2003 has the cruiserweight division been showcased on HBO and we’re very proud to present fans entertaining fights in this weight class.”

“We are very grateful to our partner and close friend Peter Nelson for giving the U.S. fans such an opportunity to watch this upcoming star, Oleksandr Usyk, live on HBO. It will be a unique event in the history of Ukraine when three Ukrainian boxers battle on the same HBO fight card,” said Alexander Krassyuk of K2 Promotions Ukraine. “Oleksandr Usyk is an absolutely extraordinary boxer. We expect a spectacular show and of course a flawless victory against the undefeated contender Michael Hunter. The whole country of Ukraine is looking forward to watching this event live.”

“I’m very happy and thankful to K2 Promotions and Top Rank along with HBO to be able to present Lomachenko, Usyk and Gvozdyk on one special night,” said Egis Klimas, manager of Usyk.

“So happy and thankful to our promoter Top Rank and HBO for bringing Gvozdyk back in the ring on April 8th,” added Klimas, who also manages Gvozdyk. “In his last fight, on HBO Pay-Per-View when he fought Isaac Chilemba, Gvozdyk proved he was a quality fighter who belongs on TV battling the best fighters in the light heavyweight division. Gonzalez is a good fighter, fans will see good show and Gvozdyk will be able to show everyone his world-class skills.”

”I am looking forward to April 8 and this exciting HBO show,” said Joe DeGuardia, promoter for Gonzalez. “Yuniesky Gonzalez once again will be stepping into the ring with a world class and very dangerous light heavyweight in Gvozdvk. However, Yuniesky is one tough, fan-friendly fighter and, with his new trainer Pedro Diaz, he is a very confident. Yuniesky will be appearing for the third time on the HBO network and you can be sure that everyone will be in for one heck of a fight”.

Usyk (11-0, 10 KOs), from Kiev, Ukraine, and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, captured the WBO cruiserweight world title in his 10th professional bout, a division record for winning a world title in the fewest fights. Usyk dethroned Krzysztof Glowacki via unanimous decision on September 17, 2016, ending the undefeated defending champion’s two-year reign. In his last fight, on December 17, Usky made his U.S. and HBO debut, successfully defending his title by knocking out world-rated contender Thabiso Mchunu in the ninth round. Considered the class of the division, Usyk trains in Oxnard, Calif. under the tutelage of Anatoly Lomachenko, father/trainer of Vasyl Lomachenko.

Hunter (12-0, 8 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev. and a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, has won five of his last seven bouts inside the distance. He scored a career-best victory in his last fight, on May 13, 2016, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Isiah Thomas to capture the NABO cruiserweight title. Hunter is currently world-rated No. 9 by the WBO

Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs), from Kharkiv, Ukraine, enters this fight having won 10 of his last 12 fights by knockout, including all three of his NABF light heavyweight title fights. A bronze medalist at the 2012 Olympics, Gvozdyk captured the vacant NABF title with a second-round knockout of Nadjib Mohammedi on April 9, 2016. He successfully defended that title twice last year scoring a sixth-round TKO of Thomas Karpency on June 23 and an eighth-round stoppage of Izek Chilemba on November 19. He enters this fight world-rated No. 6 by the WBO and the World Boxing Council (WBC), and, No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Gonzalez (18-2, 14 KOs), a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, who lives and trains in Miami, Fla. with Pedro Diaz, has collected his last nine victories by way of knockout. His only blemishes are a very disputed decision loss to former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and a majority decision loss to Vyacheslav Shabransky in 2015. Last year Gonzalez won both his fights by stoppage.

The non-televised undercard will feature undefeated No. 1 super middleweight contender JESSE “Hard Work” HART from Philadelphia, PA., and local favorites from the metro Washington, D.C. area, including undefeated prospects MIKE “Yes Indeed” REED and PATRICK HARRIS in separate bouts. Full details on the undercard will be announced at a later date.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomachenkoSosa to join the conversation on Twitter.

About MGM National Harbor
The newest addition to the MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) portfolio, MGM National Harbor has an unrivaled setting offering stunning panoramic views of the eastern shore of the Potomac River in Maryland. The $1.4 billion LEED® Gold Certified resort, which opened December 8, 2016, sits a short distance from Washington, D.C. to the north and historic sites, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate across the river in Virginia. The 24-story, 308-room resort features premier amenities and experiences for locals as well as visitors from around the world including a dynamic casino with over 125,000 square feet of space that includes slots, table games and poker; a world-class spa and salon; an entertainment theater with flexible seating for up to 3,000; high-end branded retail; 50,000 square feet of meeting space; and restaurants from renowned local, national and international chefs. For more information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

LONDON (17 February) – A star-studded night of boxing on BoxNation just got better with ‘The Channel of Champions’ set to show pound-for-pound star and WBO super-featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko’s world title defence against Jason Sosa exclusively live on Saturday April 8th.

The exciting clash will be aired live through the night following Terry Flanagan’s lightweight world title defence from Manchester earlier in the day as part of a stacked night of boxing on BoxNation.

Flanagan will put his title on the line against the well-schooled Russian Petr Petrov, with the Manchester Arena card also featuring an intriguing clash between the unbeaten Liam Williams and former light-middleweight world champion Liam Smith.

A host of top names are set to feature on the card including the debut of female boxing star Nicola Adams and thrilling heavyweight Daniel Dubois.

Former super-flyweight champion Zolani Tete will be up against Arthur Villanueva, with the undefeated Jack Catterall facing a real test against the tough Martin Gethin.

Following the live action from Manchester attention will turn towards two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko who will be out to continue his surge through the 130-pound division.

He recorded a stunning victory over the previously undefeated and formidable champion Nicholas Walters in his last outing, as his masterful performance forced the Jamaican to quit.

He now takes on 28-year-old Sosa, who has only one loss on his record in 25 fights, and goes into the fight as the WBA super-featherweight world champion.

Taking place at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Lomachenko is ready for Sosa and anyone who comes his way.

“I would like to thank Jason Sosa, who unlike the other champions, agreed to take this fight to determine the best in this weight division, even though everyone knows I am the division’s Papi,” said Lomachenko.

“I moved up to 130 pounds hoping champions in this division were not cowards like those at 126 pounds. It looks like I was wrong. To all the other ‘champions’ in the 126 pound and 130 pound divisions, I say this to you, ‘You are not champions, you are businessmen – bad businessmen. By avoiding risks, you cheat the boxing fans and that is bad business.’

“I came to this sport to prove to myself and others that I am this big and loud champion. So, while all of you continue to hide from me, I am going forward to achieve my goals. My next step is on April 8th. See you there!,” he said.

Sosa knows the challenge which awaits but is undaunted at the prospect of facing Lomachenko.

“We understand that this is the most difficult fight of our career due to the fact that we are fighting the best fighter – Vasyl Lomachenko – in the history of amateur boxing,” said Sosa.

“The beauty of all of this is that I only had three amateur fights and will prove to the world that we are by far the better fighter,” he said.

Jim McMunn, BoxNation Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to be able to once again showcase one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world in Vasyl Lomachenko. Anyone who knows boxing knows that he is a serious talent and BoxNation subscribers are going to be in for a real treat when he takes on Jason Sosa on April 8th. April 8th is going to be a very special night of boxing on BoxNation with two unbelievably good cards starting off live from Manchester with Terry Flanagan defending his world title and a number of world class fights including Liam Smith against Liam Williams, plus the debuts of Nicola Adams and Daniel Dubois. We will then switch over and go live to see a unique talent in Vasyl Lomachenko from the States. It’s going to be a night not to be missed on BoxNation.”

BoxNation is available on Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/ online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon) for just £12 a month. Buy now at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –

About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.
Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.
The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.
Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.
BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.
For more information visit www.boxnation.com
*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

By Norm Frauenehim
Pound-for-pound recognition comes with a lot credentials. But it doesn’t pay the bills. In fact, it often makes a good payday harder to find.

Vasyl Lomachenko, whose rapid rise to pound-for-prominence is unprecedented, is finding out just how hard it can be.

During a conference call Wednesday for an April 8 title defense against Jason Sosa, Lomachenko, already a pound-for-pound contender after only eight pro fights, expressed frustration about the way potential fights fall apart. Why? His varied skillset is just too much of a risk for opponents looking for a way to get ahead.

“Other champions were running like rats from a sinking ship and not coming into the ring,’’ said Lomachenko, who will defend his WBO 130-pound at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD, in an HBO-televised bout. “Nowadays, it’s not about the sport. All of the boxers have become businessmen and they are looking just to get the money and not the glory.’’

There’s no protein in glory, of course. Prize-fighting – emphasis on prize – is strictly business, especially for aging fighters. Lomachenko was hoping for a rematch with longtime gate-keeper Orlando Salido, who beat the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the Ukrainian’s second pro bout in March 2014. But after 61 bouts, the 36-year-old Salido might be looking for more than just one more payday. A likely loss to Lomachenko in a rematch would probably mark the end of his chances at another good purse.

“Yes, I was a little disappointed,’’ Lomachenko said when asked what he thought of futile negotiations with Salido. “Ass far as I knew, everything was moving along and everything was agreed to. Then all the sudden, they turned around and said he wasn’t going to fight. But, you know, such is life.’’

The good news for Lomachenko is that his professional life is just beginning to unfold. For now, he’s at that never-never stage, a career step as inevitable as it feared for some of the best. Being feared also means you’re avoided. But there are ways out of the dilemma, especially for a 28 year-old fighter who still appears to be a year or two from his prime.

At a lanky 5-foot-6, Lomachenko looks as if he has room to grow up and out of the junior-lightweight division.

“If the thing is going to go like it is today — everybody running away and not fighting me — I will be forced to go to 135 pounds,’’ he said “I would hope that the guys at 135 would be standing up and coming to fight.’’

That brings us straight to a potential mega fight with Mikey Garcia, who came out of his frightening knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin on Jan. 28 with a third title at a third weight and his own share of pound-for-pound recognition. Would a Garcia-Lomachenko fight happen right away? Nothing ever does in boxing anymore. But Garcia sounds willing and Lomachenko’s current career path seems to make the bout more likely, perhaps early next year.

Garcia, who has added scary power to his brilliant tactical skill, has already achieved some of what Lomachenko is pursuing.

Lomachenko joked on the conference call that he doesn’t see a pound-for-pound contender when he looks in the mirror

“I am usually working on my hair at that moment,’’ he said.

When he does look at the 135-pound lightweight division, however, he sees himself at the top of the pound-for-pound debate.

“If you want to just talk regarding me as a pound-for-pound fighter, I would probably say that I will probably be the No. 1 pound-for-pound after I beat a couple of champions at 135,’’ he said.

From promoters to networks to fans, Lomachenko-versus-Garcia would look awful good in any mirror.

Attachments area

TODD duBOEF: On behalf of Top Rank we would love to thank HBO, the No. 1 premium channel in the world with great programming all the time, and MGM, who we have a great relationship with in Las Vegas and all over the world; and obviously both fighters — Jason Sosa has had an incredible rise especially over the past year and gotten himself a title and Vasyl Lomachenko, having only eight professional fights, has people declaring that he is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world and was also considered by many the Fighter of the Year last year. We love making matches like this. You are talking about two of the top, top fighters in the division. We know it’s going to be an incredible fight between two guys deserving of the accolades they have received.

RUSSELL PELTZ: Thanks, Todd. We are really looking forward to this challenge. Jason had a terrific year last year and he won the title in Beijing, defended it in Monte Carlo and will now be fighting the man that everyone is calling the best fighter in the world which I guess we will find that out on April 8th. Jason is up for the challenge – he is a real fighter and real fighters fight. We will see if he can match his skills with Lomachenko and I believe that Jason’s trainer, Raul Cheno Revas is as good a trainer as there is in the world today. You may not have heard a lot about him but I think you will in the coming years. We are going into this fight, obviously as we would in any fight, to win.

I met Chino is 2012 – I went to another promoters fight in the Northeast section of Philly — I was there to scout a lightweight named Anthony Bergen who turned pro that night and I was impressed and when the fight was over I met Chino and we made an agreement that night to sign Anthony Bergen and he said to me at the time ‘if you want Bergen you have to take Jason Sosa.’ Jason had about 7 or 8 fights at the time and I had seen him a few times and said ‘I really don’t want to do that.’ He said, ‘It’s part of the package.’ And I don’t want to say I reluctantly agreed because Jason always made great fights and I knew it. So Jason came along as part of the package. Like, when was Tom Brady drafted? So that’s what happened to Jason, he turned out to be the main fighter in my stable ever since. Like I said before, guys like Freddie Roach and Virgil Hunter may get more recognition but Chino has turned Jason’s career around and the career of another junior lightweight named Kevin Farmer with a completely different style from Jason – a slick boxer compared to a slugger. Chino has completely turned both of their careers around.

RAUL CHINO RIVAS: I thank Top Rank and Russell Peltz, and I want to thank HBO for believing that Jason Sosa is worthy. Jason Sosa is a throwback fighter. He is very aggressive with a lot of heart and determination. He is something really special. He reminds me of Marvin Hagler. He keeps coming and coming and coming because he believes and has the will to win. This is an opportunity and a challenge for us, his fundamentals and skills and angles and defense. I have a lot of respect for Lomachenko. I believe he is the best pound-for-pound fighter and it won’t be easy, not a walk in the park — we’ve always been the underdog but all of the pressure is on him. He is the two-time world champion. We will have to execute the game plan to the best of our ability, and I believe I have the best man. And they believe they have the best man. So on April 8, the whole world will see, on HBO. Every fight Lomachenko is getting a learning experience and a confidence boost. I have been watching for a long time — through the Olympics. His father is a great trainer and why he does not have all of the Ukraine fighters I have no idea. We are in Puerto Rico training and getting in extremely good work. I know that Lomachenko is going to be in great condition and Jason will be in great condition so you are going to see something special.

JASON SOSA: I would like to that God. I would like to thank Top Rank, Russell Peltz and HBO and also Lomachenko and his team for accepting this opportunity. I am very excited for April 8th and I am going to be in the best condition of my life. I have to be to fight one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and the best amateur fighter that ever lived. At the end of the day, my team and I have got to be prepared. I am excited and very humbled and looking forward to everyone meeting the new Jason Sosa. I only had three fights as an amateur and the fights I am getting as a professional are keeping me hungry and focused and maintaining my craft. First and foremost I have one of the best trainers in the world and to have the opportunity to learn from him is a blessing for me. A lot of people say that I am blessed because I have him in my corner and I really believe that because without him I would not be champion today. So I am very excited and looking forward to April 8th.

TODD duBOEF: I would like to introduce Egis Klimas, a manager who has more courage than anyone and also has quite a stable of fighters that he brings from Europe to the USA.

EGIS KLIMAS: Hello everybody and thank you for being with us on this call. First of all I would like to let everybody know that I am very proud and very blessed to present one of the best fighters in the world, Vasyl Lomachenko. I want to thank Top Rank for bringing us back quickly for another opportunity to fight and I want to thank HBO for showing the fight around the whole nation, and thank Sosa for taking this fight. It’s not easy when you have a good fighter to get somebody in the other corner, but Top Rank is doing a very good job getting the best fighters possible to make the best fights. Looking forward to April 8 to go to Maryland for Vasyl to defend his title. He is always in the best shape and he is training hard and he’s going to be ready. The fans are going to see a great fight. And here is the WBO champion of the world, Lomachenko.

VASYL LOMACHENKO: Hello everybody, I just want to say I am happy to be back in camp and I am enjoying every single day I am preparing for my fight. I want to thank Jason Sosa for training to come for the victory and he is going to bring a great fight for the fans. Thank you very much and we will see you on April 8.

How do you feel about finally winning the [WBA] title, but made to vacate it, against [WBO champion] Lomachenko?

JASON SOSA: My thoughts are, this is boxing and that happens. I just have to maintain focus and just keep moving on. Just like my first loss. I’ve got one career loss and I never just focus on that loss, I just move forward. Same thing, they stripped me of the title and it hurt me because I would like to unify my title. I think that’s what every world champion would love to do. I would like to apologize to the Lomachenko team as well because I am sure they would like to fight for another title, but at the end of the day I am focused and looking forward to April 8 and hopefully win the WBO belt.

So this is not about unifying titles – you want a fight on the big stage against a top level opponent…

JASON SOSA: We want to fight the best. Lomachenko is the best in our weight division right now. That’s what boxing is all about — at the end of the day a world champion wants to fight a world champion. We are more than eager to take the challenge on April 8. We are going to put the game plan to perfection. We take it day by day and keep getting in better shape getting ready for April 8.

No one is going to questions Jason Sosa’s toughness but how do you deal with the skill level?

JASON SOSA: Very simple and short — I have the best trainer in the world and I believe he is going to have the perfect game plan and I am going to execute the game plan to perfection.

How does Lomachenko feel about that this is not going to be for the title that Sosa had?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: I understand that this is not Sosa’s decision – it is the WBA and they took the title from him. Of course I would rather unify titles. At this point I am happy to fight one of the best in the division and he is the one that took this opportunity. The other champions were running like rats from a sinking ship and not coming into the ring. Nowadays it’s not about the sport – all of the boxers have become businessmen and they are looking just to get the money and not the glory.

Why have the fight in a venue that seats only 3,000 people?

TODD duBOEF: We don’t necessarily agree with the size of the venue being indicative of the size of the match. I remember as a child the Pavilion here in Las Vegas used to have some of the biggest fights out there. Benitez, Hagler and Antifermo all fought there and sometimes on the same card. Size does not matter, not this situation, but one of the things we wanted to do was bring this match to the east coast because of Sosa’s fan base and wanted to spread Vasyl’s brand also, and we want to offer that to a new facility and it’s an honor to be able to go there.

How many times would you like to fight this year and do you plan to move up to 135?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: I was always for fighting three or four times a year. I am ready to fight and I want to fight three or four times a year. It doesn’t always depend on me, it also depends on opponents and the TV and the promoter. I am looking this year to fight at least three times. As far as moving up in weight class, if the thing is going to go like it is today, everybody is running away and not fighting me, I will be forced to go to 135 pounds and I would hope that the guys at 135 would be standing up and coming to fight.

Is it difficult to find opponents for Vasyl?

EGIS KLIMAS: Well, as you can see, the champions are not coming. That question would probably be better to go to the promoter. I am not the one that is finding opponents.

Are you learning English and do you feel it is important to do so?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: I am talking in the language of boxing.

EGIS KLIMAS: Yes he is learning English but he is not going to speak it until it is perfect English. He wants everything in his life maximized, so if he is going to start speaking English it is going to be perfect English.

What do you think about the venue and do you think you would be bringing more high profile events there?

TODD duBOEF: I physically have not been there but I have spoken to the executives at Las Vegas about the venue and their enthusiasm is very high in regards to us bringing the boxing community there. Boxing has so much symbiotic behavior to the gaming customer and fighters and fans from the local area excites them. We have had numerous conversations on a corporate level but we have not been there. There is no formal commitment but we are going have kids from the DC area on the card such as Mike Reed and Patrick Harris, and Jessie Hart is going to be coming down I-95 from Philly. We are not locked into anything in the future, we will see how this comes off – it’s a high level fight on HBO.

Were you disappointed that the Salido fight fell through?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: Yes I was a little disappointed because as far as I knew everything was moving along and everything was agreed to then all the sudden they turned around and said he wasn’t going to fight. But, you know, such is life.

Do you still want to face him or have you moved on?

VASYL LOMACHANKO: Yes, I would still like to fight him, but it doesn’t depend on me. We will see how it goes.

Why are you training in Puerto Rico for this fight?

JASON SOSA: I have tried to train in New York and also Florida but I have found that my best training is done in Puerto Rico.

What do you think about Lomachenko?

JASON SOSA: He is the closest fighter to perfection in boxing.

When do you plan to go to 135?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: If I have the opportunity against any of the champions at 135, if they are willing to fight and my promoter can put the fight together, I am looking forward to it.

When you look in the mirror, do you see yourself as the best fighter in the world, or the top 10?

VASY LOMACHENKO: It is very hard to answer the question because when I look in the mirror I don’t think about who the pound-for-pound fighter is. I am usually working on my hair at that moment.

What do you think of the talk that puts you in the Top Ten?

VASYL LOMACHENKO: If you want to just talk regarding me, as a pound-for-pound fighter, I would probably say that I will probably be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter after I beat a couple of champions at 135.

Since a couple of fighters turned down the opportunity to fight Lomachenko, can you take us through the making of this fight?

TODD duBOEF: We have a long relationship with Russell Peltz, the co-promoter of Jason Sosa, and when the date came up for the fight for Lomachenko, the offer went out to a few different fighters — one being a rematch with Orlando Salido and one being the champion Jezreel Corrales and the other one being Sosa. Russell was truly a professional and has a great relationship with us and we could make a deal pretty easily. When you say about me having a tough time making fights — I think what happens in this business, I think Vasyl said it right — the fighters are becoming businessmen — not ones that are willing to roll up their sleeves and become prizefighters — so that’s a dilemma that we deal with especially when you take the risk/reward of fighting Lomachenko. Jason and Russell understood that they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. That door opened and they are going to step through it. We applaud that and you applaud when guys take those challenges.

RUSSELL PELTZ: Top Rank called us, offered us the fight, and we said yes — because that’s what fighters do — fight. I talked it over with Chino and talked it over with Jason, and listen, we know we’re not the first choice — we get that. We know Salido turned it down for more money. We know Corrales turned it down for more money — because as everybody said, boxing is more of a business than a sport. We understand that we are here because no one else wanted the challenge. The point is, we are going to take advantage of that. Because when I was a kid, I loved a fighter named Harold Johnson. Johnson was the light heavyweight champion of the world and he was scheduled to fight a kid from Peru and about six weeks before the fight the kid failed the eye test. So they brought in Henry Hank and two weeks before the fight Hank got injured. So they brought in Willie Pastrano on 10 days notice. Pastrano knew he wasn’t the first choice but he took advantage of it and he won the title. That’s what it’s all about — fighters fight.

TODD duBOEF: What a great way to finish this call. Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 A.M.!

*************************************

Two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist VASYL LOMACHENKO and World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight world champion JASON “El Canito” SOSA will battle for Lomachenko’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title, Saturday, April 8, at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD. The fight between the two world champions will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The non-televised undercard will feature undefeated No. 1 super middleweight contender JESSE “Hard Work” HART from Philadelphia, PA., and local favorites from the metro Washington, D.C. area, including undefeated prospects MIKE “Yes Indeed” REED and PATRICK HARRIS in separate bouts. Full details on the undercard will be announced at a later date.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Peltz Boxing Promotions, tickets for the Lomachenko-Sosa world championship event go on sale This Monday! February 20, at 10:00 A.M. ET. Priced at $153, $128, $103, $78 and $53, including all applicable service charges and taxes, tickets can be purchased online at mgmnationalharbor.com or ticketmaster.com. For more tour and ticket information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or call (844) 346-4664.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomachenkoSosa to join the conversation on Twitter.

About MGM National Harbor
The newest addition to the MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) portfolio, MGM National Harbor has an unrivaled setting offering stunning panoramic views of the eastern shore of the Potomac River in Maryland. The $1.4 billion LEED® Gold Certified resort, which opened December 8, 2016, sits a short distance from Washington, D.C. to the north and historic sites, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate across the river in Virginia. The 24-story, 308-room resort features premier amenities and experiences for locals as well as visitors from around the world including a dynamic casino with over 125,000 square feet of space that includes slots, table games and poker; a world-class spa and salon; an entertainment theater with flexible seating for up to 3,000; high-end branded retail; 50,000 square feet of meeting space; and restaurants from renowned local, national and international chefs. For more information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or follow on Facebook and

OXON HILL, MD (February 15, 2017) — Two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist VASYL LOMACHENKO and World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight world champion JASON “El Canito” SOSA will battle for Lomachenko’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title, Saturday, April 8, at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD. The fight between the two world champions will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The non-televised undercard will feature undefeated No. 1 super middleweight contender JESSE “Hard Work” HART from Philadelphia, PA., and local favorites from the metro Washington, D.C. area, including undefeated prospects MIKE “Yes Indeed” REED and PATRICK HARRIS in separate bouts. Full details on the undercard will be announced at a later date.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Peltz Boxing Promotions, tickets for the Lomachenko-Sosa world championship event, go on sale This Monday! February 20, at 10:00 A.M. ET. Priced at $153, $128, $103, $78 and $53, including all applicable service charges and taxes, tickets can be purchased online at mgmnationalharbor.com or ticketmaster.com. For more tour and ticket information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or call (844) 346-4664.

“I would like to thank Jason Sosa, who unlike the other champions, agreed to take this fight to determine the best in this weight division, even though everyone knows I am the division’s Papi,” said Lomachenko. “I moved up to 130 pounds hoping champions in this division were not cowards like those at 126 pounds. It looks like I was wrong. To all the other ‘champions’ in the 126 pound and 130 pound divisions, I say this to you, ‘You are not champions, you are businessmen. Bad businessmen. By avoiding risks, you cheat the boxing fans and that is bad business.’ I came to this sport to prove to myself and others that I am this big and loud champion. So, while all of you continue to hide from me, I am going forward to achieve my goals. My next step is on April 8th. See you there!”

“We understand that this is the most difficult fight of our career due to the fact
that we are fighting the best fighter – Vasyl Lomachenko – in the history of
amateur boxing,” said Sosa. “The beauty of all of this is that I only had three amateur fights and will prove to the world that we are by far the better fighter.”

“It will be exciting to see the great champion Vasyl Lomachenko back in the ring,” said Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager. “We give Jason Sosa credit for stepping up to this challenge. We want to thank our promoter Top Rank and HBO for arranging this great event.”

“Vasyl Lomachenko is history in the making. He is the greatest fighter in the world,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Vasyl is the total package — power, balance, skills, and tricks. And he will need to be at his best against Jason Sosa who has the talent to match his guts for getting into the ring with Vasyl. The fans watching it live at MGM National Harbor or on HBO are in for helluva night.”

“I don’t know why this fight is happening. All of the boxing experts tell me Jason Sosa won’t win one second of any round and who am I to quibble with experts. They are probably the same experts who picked Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump,” said Hall of Fame co-promoter Russell Peltz. “Funny things happen when the bell rings. Jason Sosa is a real fighter and real fighters fight. One of the problems in boxing today
is that most of the fighters are not real fighters; they are businessmen. That’s why guys
ask for outrageous money to fight Lomachenko. Jason is cut from a different breed. He
wants to find out how great he really is. What kind of fighter wouldn’t want this kind of a
challenge?”

“One of the finest prizefighters in the world, Vasyl Lomachenko looks to deliver another masterful performance in his 2017 ring debut,” said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “Having upended the experts more than once, Jason Sosa is an underdog overlooked at the peril of his opponents, and we’ll see a true battle of wills in this world championship title showdown.”

“We are excited to partner with Top Rank and HBO Sports on this sensational championship boxing event at The Theater at MGM National Harbor. The Theater gives us another opportunity to show the fans in the DMV region, and those watching worldwide, what our resorts are all about and our ability to host high-profile events normally reserved for large-scale arenas,” said Richard Sturm, President of Entertainment and Sports for MGM Resorts International.

Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine, makes his 2017 debut coming off a year that saw him named “Fighter of the Year” by several media outlets, including The Fight Game with Jim Lampley. In his last fight, on November 26, Lomachenko made his first defense of the WBO junior lightweight title, totally dominating Nicholas Walters. The previously undefeated former WBA featherweight world champion quit on his stool after the seventh round with his trainer and father, Jobs Walters, telling referee Tony Weeks, ‘”No mas.” Not only was it a total domination but a boxing masterpiece painted on the canvas by Lomacheko. The greatest amateur boxer of his era and arguably of all time, two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko, became a two-division world champion just as he did with his first professional world title, he won world title No. 2 in a record least amount of fights — SEVEN! On June 11, 2016, he annihilated defending three-time WBO junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez via a cringe-worthy knockout punch in the fifth round . Lomachenko captured his first world title — the vacant WBO featherweight title — on June 21, 2014, winning a scintillating majority decision over the previously unbeaten Gary Russell Jr. It was Lomachenko’s third professional bout, tying him with Thailand’s Saensak Muangsurin for fewest fights to win a world title. Muangsurin won a junior welterweight title in 1975, also in his third professional fight. Lomachenko first gained international renown by winning gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games as a featherweight and a lightweight, respectively. He retired from the amateurs with a 396-1 record.

Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs), from Camden, NJ, and managed by Raul Chino Rivas, enters this fight riding a five-year, 20-bout unbeaten streak which includes 14 knockout victories dating back to 2011! Many local fans, who flock to his fights, consider Sosa to be one of the best fighters to come out of Camden since Dwight Qawi. Sosa’s been a fan favorite since turning pro in 2009 because of his exciting and aggressive style, strong punching power. He captured the WBA super featherweight world title on June 24, 2016 in Beijing, coming from behind on all three judges’ scorecards to knock out undefeated defending champion Javier Fortuna in the 11th round. He successfully defend the title in his last fight on November 19 in Las Vegas, winning a unanimous decision over No. 7 world-rated contender Stephen Smith. .

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomachenkoSosa to join the conversation on Twitter.

About MGM National Harbor
The newest addition to the MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) portfolio, MGM National Harbor has an unrivaled setting offering stunning panoramic views of the eastern shore of the Potomac River in Maryland. The $1.4 billion LEED® Gold Certified resort, which opened December 8, 2016, sits a short distance from Washington, D.C. to the north and historic sites, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate across the river in Virginia. The 24-story, 308-room resort features premier amenities and experiences for locals as well as visitors from around the world including a dynamic casino with over 125,000 square feet of space that includes slots, table games and poker; a world-class spa and salon; an entertainment theater with flexible seating for up to 3,000; high-end branded retail; 50,000 square feet of meeting space; and restaurants from renowned local, national and international chefs. For more information, visit mgmnationalharbor.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Vasyl Lomanchenko will defend his 130 pound world title against beltholder Jason Sosa on April 8 at the new MGM Casino outside of Baltimore, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I don’t think anybody beats Lomachenko, but Sosa has a puncher’s chance,” Top Rank’s promoter Bob Arum said. “He’s certainly a respectable opponent.”

“Sosa beat two good fighters in Fortuna and Smith, and he wants to find out how good he is,” said Russell Peltz, who co-promotes Sosa with Top Rank. “He wants to test himself against the best and Lomachenko is one of the best. If there were more fighters with Sosa’s attitude, boxing would be in better shape.”

“Sosa wants the fight and his trainer [Raul ‘Chino’ Rivas] likes the fight,” Peltz said. “I don’t think Jason will get discouraged if he falls behind early. He didn’t lose focus in China against Fortuna, and he came from behind and won the fight. I think he’ll keep trying for every minute of every round against Lomachenko.

“I know Lomachenko was this great amateur with [close to] 400 fights, but that takes a toll on your body. There’s a point where it adds up and it takes its toll on the body. I’ve seen Lomachenko fight, and everybody is beatable. I saw Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston. On April 8, we are going to have the best chance of everybody to beat Lomachenko because we’re gonna be the one in the ring with him. Sosa is a world-class puncher and still learning to fight. He only had three amateur fights, but he’ll give it everything he has like he always does.”

Arum initially tried to make a unification fight for Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) against Panama’s Jezreel Corrales (21-1, 8 KOs) but said the Corrales camp ultimately rejected the fight.

“He didn’t want the fight,” Arum said. “That’s one of the problems with Lomachenko — nobody’s got the balls to fight him except Sosa.”

Arum also said he attempted to make a rematch between Lomachenko, 28, and former titlist Orlando Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs), who won a close decision over Lomachenko in 2014 in Lomachenko’s second professional fight. Lomachenko was attempting to win a vacant featherweight title — which had been stripped from Salido the previous day for failing to make weight — and thus set the record for winning a world title in the fewest bouts.

“With Salido, we were up to a crazy number,” Arum said. “He still wouldn’t take the fight and he has nothing going now. He won’t fight Lomachenko again.”

By Jimmy Tobin-

Saturday night, at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, junior lightweight, Vasyl Lomachenko, made a quitter of Nicholas Walters in one of the most anticipated fights of last year. Walters found reasons enough in seven rounds of exposure to Lomachenko to suffer the fallout of an ignominious defeat rather than be further toyed with or worse.

Quietly ended a rivalry that would have provided greater drama had it played out at featherweight, where Walters—yet to lose a title on the scale, yet to suffer a draw a lightweight, still brimming with confidence from running roughshod over the worn and washed tributes offered to his mystique—was his most imposing. Perhaps too, had Walters not spent eleven months doing anything but fighting, doing whatever it was that made ominous the pictures of him as the weigh-in loomed, he would have mustered a better showing. Alas.

To conjure up a charitable narrative on Walter’s behalf seems like primarily the work of those embittered by the result (a Lomachenko victory even before a Walters loss). But what might they say?

Faced with a fighter near impossible to hit, it could be that Walters turned his back on his opponent, on his promoter, on a fight he never cared to participate in. Perhaps when Lomachenko unfurled his full arsenal, when he spun and struck Walters to dizzying effect in the seventh round, it was then that Walters decided that, while willing to endure 12 futile rounds he would not suffer another like the last. Maybe pride brought him to tell referee, Tony Weeks, he had no interest in fighting on, so humiliated was he by the prospect of being reduced to a sparring partner, a mere tool for practice.

Any one of these explanations is in keeping with a telling moment at the end of the fifth round. Lomachenko stood still in the center of the ring, and Walters, rather than seize the opportunity to walk Lomachenko down merely mirrored his opponent; when he did move, his first step was backward, away from Lomachenko, away, really, from any regard for the fight’s outcome. As the bell sounded to end the round, Walters simply shrugged his shoulders.

Walters had his reasons for quitting and so too will he have his consequences. The comeback trail for a fighter complicit in his defeat, a trail that already features less money and fewer television dates, is unlikely to be understanding let alone forgiving; nor, for that matter, is the collective pile-on that is the viewing public.

Underlying all of these interpretations of Walter’s conduct is Lomachenko, a generational talent, if not yet a great fighter. Fittingly, he went about his business last night in trunks and gloves patterned in a style resembling the work of pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein, who once said, “Art doesn’t transform. It plain forms.” Lomachenko is not transforming, altering, or changing his legacy so much as forming it in accordance with the ambition and talent he is endowed with. He is not held to the standards of a fighter with eight professional bouts because that would be an insult to him. And yet, it is important to keep that number in mind, because in that short span of time he has already beaten Gary Russell Jr., Rocky Martinez, and now Walters, which, while not the stuff of legend, is a feat unrivalled by any of his peers when they had less than ten fights. Even Lomachenko’s loss to Orlando Salido, which despite Salido’s manipulation of sportsmanship ended with the iron-willed Mexican on the brink, looks good.

It is not always a question of whether you win but how you do that matters, however. And while Walters must own some of the blame for the lack of fireworks Saturday night, Lomachenko’s performance was less riveting than his unmaking of Russell or his destruction of Martinez. And yet it was vintage Lomachenko (for better or worse).

Again Lomachenko erased the line between defense and offense as only he does: where punches are followed by defensive maneuvers that position him for further offense and so forth, all at the expense of opponents who are spun like flies in a spider’s web as the fatal bite closes in. Walters cocked his vaunted right hand repeatedly in the early rounds, but rarely threw it, nor did he stalk Lomachenko as he had even the most dangerous fighters he’d faced. He did not have to. Instead, Lomachenko brought the fight to Walters—and when that fight become its most intense, Walters capitulated. Here then, is the transformative element in Lomachenko’s work, best found on the bodies—in their wounds, in their language—of his opponents. Still, there are further transformations that need to take place for Lomachenko to monetize his talent.

Lomachenko’s mastery leaves some wanting more. Perhaps it is the incremental and protracted way he works, starting first with range and defense before incorporating his more hurtful—and compelling—elements of his game. Indeed, there is at least a moment or two in most all of Lomachenko’s fights where it is fair to ask why he is still fighting. He looks near flawless when he is shifting on opponents, slashing at them from improbable angles, but perhaps a little less precision, and a little more recklessness and savagery, would help him better resonate with the public. He is not a defensive fighter—his defense is a conduit for his offense—but his calculated attack understandably leaves the bloodthirsty cold.

There is a solution to his problem that requires Lomachenko make no stylistic concessions, however, one that could entrench him in a collective consciousness that extends well beyond the dwindling ranks of those who still turn to the ring for entertainment: seek out those fighters who fight with a passion you reserve only for your preparation, those fighters who carry both the hopes of a nation and a cultural obligation—and cut those men to ribbons.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday in Las Vegas the runnerup for 2016’s most-anticipated fight featured undefeated Jamaican Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters getting stripped bare in a super featherweight title match by once-defeated Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko. Walters decided quitting after seven rounds of being felled not once somehow blazed a nobler trail than absorbing a beating certain to multiply and deepen. Well. Unpleasant as things must’ve been for Walters he made the wrong decision and should expect in the future white feathers in lieu of television contracts.

Styles break fights, and if one compares the reality of Lomachenko-Walters to the fantasy so many aficionados entertained about it Saturday’s fare fairly well serves as the largest disappointment of 2016 – which, as disappointments go, is like being the captain of an all-star team. The boxer-slugger matchup, as Joe Frazier teaches us in “Boxing with the Pros”, ever favors the boxer, but even so, that was a bit much.

Anyone who’s not been ringside at a Walters fight before Saturday no doubt now entertains suspicions Walters was a Top Rank invention of (typically brilliant) matchmaking, a properly manufactured frame with which to hang the promoter’s latest masterpiece, but that’s inaccurate for once; Walters was special in an especially concussive way when he arrived in 2013. I was ringside for Walters’ American debut, a 3 1/2-round hatcheting of Mexican Alberto Garza in Corpus Christi, Texas, and it left a mark. I recall clearly but three emotions from the fights that night: Thankfulness San Antonio’s Steve Hall did not perish in his encounter with Alex Saucedo, amusement Vic Darchinyan outboxed Nonito Donaire for eight rounds, and holy mackerel that guy with the wooden axe can crack! Very few fighters at the championship level have gamechanging power not because very few guys at the championship level hit hard but because everyone at the championship level hits hard, and subsequently fighters don’t make it to the championship level without they can absorb stiff shots. Walters didn’t just hit his opponent with a stroke that shocked Garza but observed Garza’s fright with no shock of his own – Walters waded into what panic emanated from Garza without malevolence: “I’m supposed to cause that.”

Four months later I was ringside when Lomachenko’s debut in a championship fight did not go nearly so impressively against Mexican Orlando Salido in San Antonio’s Alamodome. Salido missed weight by a couple or three weightclasses, if memory serves, and fouled Lomachenko compulsively but as we’d been promised by Lomachenko’s promoters some combination of the greatest amateur in boxing history and the greatest professional to come in boxing history most of us succumbed to schadenfreude and were at least amused by the spectacle of a 12-loss grinder decisioning the future of boxing – not amused as we’d been 90 days before when Chino ravished About Billions, but still.

First impressions and all that: I fully expected Lomachenko-Walters to be intense and intensely memorable and wanted very much to see what the future of boxing did with his introduction to the Axe Man’s blade. We’ll never know, will we, as Lomachenko so wildly outclassed the Axe Man the few punches Walters nearly landed were thrown with so little resolve as to be pittypats had they landed and whiteflags otherwise.

Does that make Lomachenko the most skilled fighter in the world? Hell no, actually, it doesn’t; give the minimumweight equivalent of Siri Salido 10 extralegal pounds and all the fouls he can muster and he’d still not win three rounds against Roman Gonzalez in 100 minutes of trying, much less decision him on scorecards that are just. Lomachenko is an innovator and a supremely talented fighter, yes, but Chocolatito is perfect – and they’re not quite the same thing.

Watching Lomachenko dance and pepper, shake and grind Saturday recalled no one to mind so much as Sergio Martinez, another southpaw innovator who got beaten early in his career by a Mexican grinder. Lomachenko circles tighter and does everything a bit tighter than Maravilla did but he doesn’t hit so hard or he’d have copterforked the Jamaican long before Walters quit since there’s no confusing the Axe Man for the Punisher. While we’re on the subject of Walter’s stooljob, a couple lessons learned: First, when a guy attends a weighin with a marijuana leaf on his getup, no matter his nationality, don’t be shocked if he mills like a pothead; and second, remember always what makes sluggers vulnerable to boxers is the fragility of sluggers’ psyches – they get discouraged much quicker and more deeply than boxers or volume punchers do.

For all his abundance of showcased skill Lomachenko’s not too exciting, alas, no matter how much one interrogates instant replays and immerses himself in the audio of whatever promotional lunacy Lomachenko’s American cable network now amplifies about any prizefighter from the former Soviet Union. Unlike the rest of the Eastern Bloc fighters HBO has peddled aggressively at us seemingly since the Berlin Wall fell, though, Lomachenko is promoted by an outfit that knows how and occasionally asks its charges to take risks commensurate with the fortunes HBO is wont to invest in marketable personalities.

Saturday Lomachenko looked enormous at 130 pounds and shouldn’t have any trouble rising in weight to much bigger fights with Top Rank’s much bigger fighters, or they can give us a rematch with Salido on pay-per-view and see if that goes.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Follow all the action as Vasyl Lomachenko defends the WBO Super Featherweight title against Nicholas Walters.  The action begins at 10:35 ET / 5:35 AM in Ukraine / 10:35 in Jamaica

NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED

Round 1: Lomachenko lands a left and right

Round 2 Jab and quick lefts from Lomachenko..Good right from Walters..Straight left from Lomachenko…2 good jabs from Walters…Good left from Lomanchenko and another..

Round 3 Quick left inside from Lomachenko..Body shot from Walters..4 punch combination from Lomachenko

Round 4 Walters lands a left hook…Lomachenko counters twice…Body shot…Good hook from Walters

Round 5 Left to body by Lomanchenko…

Round 6 Good body shot from Walters..Right hook from Lomanchemko..Good body shot from Walters..Combibation from Lomanchenko…Lomachenko outlanding Walters 84-44

Round 7 Good body shot from Walters..Good left..Good left hook from Walters….WALTERS QUITS ON THE STOOL

Vasyl Lomachenko stopped Nicholas Walters after the 7th round to retain the WBO Super Featherweight title at the Cosmopoliton in Las Vegas.

Lomachenko was dominant as he won every round by landing quick cmbinations, showing off his superior boxing skills.  Walters was never hurt, but never seemed to get a rhythm against the ultra talaneted Lomachenko and shockingly decided he did not want to go on after the 7th round.

Lomachenko of Ukraine is now 7-1 with 5 knockouts.  Walters of Jamaica is 26-1-1.

I had my plan. I knew it would take four rounds and then I went to work on him,” said Lomachenko. “Walters said he would do this and that he would do that throughout training camp, and in the end, he just quit. I would like to fight [WBC super featherweight champion] Francisco Vargas next. My goal is to be the No. 1 pound for pound fighter.”

Konstantin Ponomarev remained undefeated by winning an 8-round unanimous decision over Silverio Ortiz in a welterweight bout.

Ponomarev, 148 1/2 lbs of Russia won by scores of 80-72 on all cards and is now 31-0.  Ortiz of Mexico is 35-19.

Trevor McCumby stopped Donovan George in the 1st round of their scheduled 8-round light heavyweight bout.

McCumby dropped George with a hard overhand right to the head. George was hurt but continued, only to eat a barrage of punches and another hard right hand on the ropes dropped George for a 2nd time, and referee Robert Byrd stopped the bout at 1:48.

McCumby, 172 1/4 lbs is now 24-0 with 19 knockouts. George, 175 lbs of Chicago, IL is 25-7-2.

Maxim Dadashev stopped Efrain Cruz in the 2nd round of their scheduled 6-round junior welterweight bout.

Dadashev pounded Cruz around in the 2nd round until a crushg left hook forced referee Kenny Bayless to stop the bout at 1:57 of round two.

Dadashev, 140 1/4 lbs of St. Petursburg, RUS is 5-0 with 5 knockouts. Cruz, 140 1/4 lbs of Puerto Rico is 4-3-1.

Juan Ruiz stopped Fernando Carcamo in the 1st round of their scheduled 8-round welterweight bout.

In round one, Ruiz dropped Carcamo with a hard right hand. Towards the end of the round, Ruiz landed another left-right combination that put Caracamo down again and the fight was stopped at 2:43.

Ruiz, 146 3/4 lbs of Tijuana, MX is now 18-0-1 with 11 knockouts. Carcamo, 146 1/2 lbs of Ciudad, MX is 21-8.

LONDON (25 November) – Pound-for-pound star Vasyl Lomachenko expects a very difficult night’s work when he steps in against the formidable Nicholas Walters.

The pair clash this Saturday, in what is one of the year’s most eagerly anticipated bouts, leading a stunning triple-header on BoxNation which also sees Terry Flanagan defend his WBO lightweight world title against Orlando Cruz earlier in the day, with Bradley Skeete and John Thain doing battle for the British welterweight title exclusively live tonight.

Super-featherweight world champion Lomachenko has constantly looked to test himself against the very best since turning professional in 2013 and against the undefeated Walters he is expecting to see out an early blitz before stopping the former WBA Super champion.

“I think it is going to be very, very hard for me in the first four rounds, then after that I will be trying to terminate the bout,” said Lomachenko.

“This is a very important bout for me because many boxing experts and many people in boxing rank Walters as the highest-rated fighter in our division.

“He is a very hard puncher and a very good boxer and for me it’s a very important thing to fight the best and it’s very important for me because everyone says he is a very good fighter,” he said.

‘Axe Man’ Walters is among the hard-hitters around, with 21 knockouts in his 26 wins, including impressive stoppages over Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.

The 30-year-old Jamaican, who has not fought in nearly a year, is undaunted at going in against Lomachenko, a two-weight world champion after just seven bouts, the second of which was a split decision loss to Orlando Salido, something Walters wants to exploit.

“As a fighter I have always been in the gym working out so the layoff wouldn’t even bother me and I wouldn’t take the fight if I thought I wasn’t going to be ready,“ said Walters.

“I don’t think this is a different Lomachenko from the guy that lost to Salido – he is the same Lomachenko. They say a leopard cannot change his spots right?

“Since he did lose to Salido, he can be as technical as he wants, but I am in the hurt business – this is a gladiator sport and I fight all of my fights like that, I fight like a gladiator.

“He can come in with his technical fight on Saturday and I am going to be up for it and put on a helluva show on Saturday night,” Walters said.

BoxNation is crammed with live fight action starting tonight when 29-year-old Skeete looks to advance his claim as one of Britain’s best 147-pounders when he faces Edinburgh fighter Thain for the British title at The Brentwood Centre in Essex.

Middleweight Lee Markham takes on Andrew Robinson for the English title on the card, with exciting youngster Boy Jones Junior facing Martin Hillman.

Saturday night will see the return of lightweight world champion ‘Turbo’ Flanagan as he defends his title against Puerto Rican hotshot Cruz, with the Manchester boxer hoping to put on a show at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

Unbeaten Liam Williams will be up against Hungarian Gabor Gorbics for the vacant WBO European super-welterweight title, with the skilled and undefeated Tommy Langford sharing the ring with Sam Sheedy for the British middleweight title.

Using the code ‘BlackFriday’ new BoxNation subscribers on the Sky platform will be able to join the channel with no registration fee up until midnight on Saturday 26th November.

‘The Channel of Champions’ has an incredible lineup of live fights coming up including lightweight superstar Terrence Crawford v John Molina and the final fight of the legendary Bernard Hopkins who challenges Joe Smith Jr next month.

BoxNation (Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/Online & App) is available for just £12 a month. Buy now at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –
About BoxNation

BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.

BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.

For more information visit www.boxnation.com

*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

By Norm Frauenheim-

The evolution of boxing’s surprising new generation – fighters from the old Soviet Union – continues Saturday with Vasyl Lomachenko, who many believe will be the best of them, if not one of the best ever.

In the lead-up to the Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters bout at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, his promoter, Bob Arum, compares the Ukrainian to Muhammad Ali.

Being called the next anything can create some problematic expectations. To wit: There’s never been another John Wooden or Jack Nicklaus and the NBA is still looking for the next Michael Jordan.

But, it’s fair to argue, that there’s never been anyone in any sport quite like Ali. In the arena of history’s icons, Ali is the greatest ever. On the boxing canvas, he’s Michelangelo. Whether there’s a Sistine Chapel in Lomachenko’s creative hands is anybody’s guess. After all, the two-time Olympic gold medalist has only seven pro bouts (6-1, 4 KOs).

But Arum is absolutely right about one thing: Lomachenko is fascinating to watch. Arum has seen them all. First of all and above all, Ali.

The promoter, who turns 85 on Dec. 8, celebrates his 2,000th card Saturday night. That amounts to boxing every night for nearly five-and-half years. Arum thought he had seen all the angles until he saw Lomachenko, who has been creating some new dimensions in boxing’;s traditional geometry

He possesses a bewildering array of punching angles augmented by hand speed and clever footwork. Ali?

We’ll only know more about that one in the face of further adversity, perhaps in an HBO-televised bout (10:35 p.m. ET/PT) against a dangerous Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) who has frightening power.

Lomachenko has already encountered some of that in a loss to a stubborn and brawling Orlando Salido. Salido might have taught him a career-full of lessons during one long night in March 2014. Lomachenko is no dummy. The guess here is that he will be cautious early and creative late for a stoppage in the final couple of rounds over a tiring Walters.

A successful defense of his WBO junior-lightweight belt might propel him to an immediate jump in class, perhaps to a 2017 bout at 140 pounds against Manny Pacquaio. I would also like to see a bout with Mikey Garcia, although that one could be difficult to put together because of Garcia’s split with Top Rank.

Nevertheless, Lomachenko against the tactically skilled and always-poised Garcia would loom as an intriguing match-up and another test of what Arum foresees for the Ukrainian.

For now, Lomachenko ranks No. 3 on this list of fighters from the old Soviet bloc making an impact in the U.S. Middleweight Gennady Golovkin is still no. 1. Light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev is No. 2, despite his controversial loss to Andre Ward last Saturday.

If fans angry at Ward’s one-point victory on each of the judges’ card had a vote, Kovalev might in fact be No. 1. Despite the noisy controversy, however, it still goes down as a loss for Kovalev, who seemed to let the clever Ward off the hook after the Russian scored a second-round knockdown.

For Lomachenko, that’s an opportunity to become No. 2 on what might just be an early list of all that Arum thinks he’ll achieve.

HBO Boxing serves up a thrilling night of boxing action on Thanksgiving weekend when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: VASYL LOMACHENKO vs. NICHOLAS WALTERS is seen SATURDAY, NOV. 26 at 10:35 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: Nov. 27 (8:45 a.m.) and 28 (12:50 a.m.)

HBO2 playdate: Nov. 29 (1:00 a.m.)

The fight will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

In a highly anticipated junior lightweight title showdown, reigning champ Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs), originally from Odessa and now training in Oxnard, Cal., faces off against undefeated knockout artist Nicholas Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) of Montego Bay, Jamaica in a scheduled 12-round contest.

Amassing impressive records as a brilliant amateur boxer and two-time Olympic gold medalist (2008 & 2012), Lomachenko turned pro in 2013 and has already captured titles in the featherweight and junior lightweight divisions after just seven career fights, dethroning Gary Russell and Rocky Martinez. His willingness to meet any challenge has made him one of the sport’s most intriguing rising stars.

A formidable challenger with a sterling 78% knockout-to-win ratio, Walters’ only career blemish is a Dec. 2015 majority draw against Jason Sosa, which many observers considered a questionable outcome. His matchup with Lomachenko at 130 pounds has the boxing world buzzing with anticipation.

Prior to the live fight, HBO Sports will replay the hotly debated light heavyweight championship fight between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward that took place on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena. The 12-round pay-per-view battle ended with all three judges agreeing that the challenger had won by the narrowest of margins.

Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.

All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.

The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jon Crystal; director, Johnathan Evans.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (Nov. 21, 2016) — Two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist VASYL LOMACHENKO (6-1, 4 KOs), of Odessa, Ukariane, undefeated former World Boxing Association (WBA) world featherweight champion NICHOLAS “Axe Man” WALTERS (26-0-1, 21 KOs), of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum began their Fight Week in Las Vegas with a Q & A today. Lomachenko will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight title against Walters This Saturday, Nov. 26, at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT. This will mark the 2,000th event Arum has promoted, dating back to March 29, 1966, when World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali defended his title against George Chuvalo. The HBO® telecast will also feature the replay of last week’s controversial light heavyweight title fight between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward.

Q & A

BOB ARUM: This is my 2000th event and this fight is worthy of being my 2,000th event. Nicholas Walters is the hardest puncher in these divisions — they don’t call him the “Axe Man” for nothing and he always give 100%. And Vasyl Lomachenko is an unbelievable technician who has done really the impossible, winning world titles in two divisions in a record-few seven professional fights. So I look for a Fight of the Year candidate on Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and everybody can watch it live on HBO in addition to the replay of the controversial fight from Saturday between Kovalev and Ward. And what I think is the Fight of the Year candidate Lomachenko vs. Walters. I’m a big fan of both guys. I think Walters is a tremendous fighter and I enjoy the way he fights.

LOMACHENKO: I would like to congratulate Bob Arum on his 2000th event and I am proud to be on his 2000th fight card. I wish him very good health and I hope he can make a 2,500th card so I can be on that also.

Why the interest in fighting Walters now when there were trepidations before?

LOMACHENKO: This is a very important bout for me because many boxing experts and many people in boxing rank Walters as the highest-rated fighter in our division. He is a very hard puncher and a very good boxer and for me it’s a very important thing to me to fight the best and it’s very important for me because everyone says he is a very good fighter.

How do you think this fight will go with Walters since he is a bigger boxer?

LOMACHENKO: I don’t know. I cannot answer that question. I can’t tell you exactly how it’s going to go or tell you what is going to happen in the ring. That will depend on how it begins in the ring. It is boxing and everything is going to happen very fast.

Where did you learn your creativity? Were there any boxers you watch while younger that you learned from?

LOMACHENKO: First of all, I would like you to know that everything that I have is what my father created in me and my father put everything together into me. Secondly I am a workaholic – I work hard. I do not cheat myself in training, I work very hard and somehow God has given me great balance that helps me put everything together.

There is a video on You Tube that compares Vasyl to The Matrix. Have you seen the video? What is your reaction? There are many people outside of boxing that have seen this video…

LOMACHENKO: This is exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to let different people know, people outside of boxing, to know me. I think the boxing game is one that people have forgotten about and they are not enjoying it as much. I want to bring back and show how interesting boxing can be. I am the motherboard.

Do you have a plan for the future? What do you see as the endgame?

LOMACHENKO: For sure I was thinking about that, and my contract is over in six or seven months and that’s when I am thinking about finishing my career (laughing at his joke).

BOB ARUM: I would like to say this; that Vasyl Lomachenko is technically the best fighter that I have seen since the early Muhammad Ali. There is nobody that I have seen, and there have been a lot of great technical fighters that I have seen – Alexis Arguello was one, Floyd Mayweather certainly, Manny Pacquiao – but there has been nobody with the skills that Vasyl Lomachenko has.

You have fought a lot of amateurs – when you fight a fighter like Walters who sometimes swings for the fences, what typically has happened in those type fights?

LOMACHENKO: If we are talking about the amateurs – the punchers never got anywhere in their careers. Usually three rounds was not enough time to get ready for the fight. The punchers are professional boxers not amateur boxers.

How do you see this fight playing out?

I LOMACHENKO: I think it is going to be very, very hard for me in the first four rounds, then after that I will be trying to terminate the bout.

This is a big fight, but how do you see Lomachenko in the bigger fights in the larger arenas?

BOB ARUM: Lomachenko has a huge upside. This is the second world title in as many divisions in seven professional fights – that has never happened before, and he is going to win more world titles as he goes up in weight and there are going to be very interesting guys for him to fight. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that he and Manny [Pacquiao] could fight sometime next year. Lomachenko wants challenges and he is a tremendous talent. His upside is enormous and a lot of people are watching him — not just boxing fans — because he is an unbelievable talent. They see him on You Tube and on HBO and have said what an unbelievable talent he is.

Do you want to fight Manny Pacquiao?

LOMACHENKO: Yes, of course I would like to fight Pacquiao, but not in the next fight.

What makes this a can’t-miss fight?

BOB ARUM: They call Walters the Axe Man for a reason — he searches and destroys. He is a tremendous puncher and he is in with a technician who has enormous talent in boxing not only defensively but offensively, so this is a can’t-miss fight and I want the people to realize that not only do I believe that it will be a Fight of the Year candidate, I believe that if Vasyl Lomachenko is successful, he should be right up there for consideration for Fighter of the Year.

Do you feel like you may want to slow Lomachenko down a little bit?

BOB ARUM: From the first day I met him, when he sat down with me and we discussed his future, I was concerned because people were offering him large signing bonuses, he told me that he didn’t want a signing bonus; he wanted to earn his own money. All he wanted was challenges that I would present to him. That’s what I am going to do. He doesn’t want any gimmes – he wants every fight to be a challenge. So at 130-pounds, who is more of a challenge than Nicholas Walters? I am not going to slow him down. He knows his ability a lot more than I do. And you have to give his father credit – his father is probably the best trainer in boxing today and I say that without any question, because look what the father produced from the Ukrainian Olympic team in London. Oleksandr Usuyk who is now a cruiserweight champion, Alexandr Gvozdyk, a light heavyweight who you saw last week on the Ward-Kovalev pay-per-view, who is a future champion – they are all Ukrainians and they were all trained by Vasyl’s father. So he has a lot going for him.

How will you deal with the reach advantage that Walters has?

LOMACHENKO: Boxers always have an advantage over another, whether it is a longer reach or more weight or a taller guy. How I will use his reach advantage to my advantage, you will find out on Saturday.

What do you think when someone of Bob’s stature speaks so highly of you?

LOMACHENKO: It will give me another motivation because a lot of people may look at that or hear that and think that maybe it’s not true. When I hear that it gives me a lot of motivation to make me work harder in my training to prove that what Bob is saying. I don’t have the chance to make any mistakes. I have to prove that Bob is right.

NICHOLAS WALTERS

Do you think the layoff will affect you?

WALTERS: The layoff? I am in the motivation business, so the layoff is definitely part of the boxing business. As a fighter I have always been in the gym working out and everything so the layoff wouldn’t even bother me and I wouldn’t take the fight if I thought I wasn’t going to be ready for the fight. I don’t even think for a minute that I only want to please Nicholas. I want to please the fans and my country, both Panama and Jamaica and all of my fans in Mexico and all over the world. I am not just taking the fight for Nicholas. I am taking the fight for everybody and come Saturday I am going to be ready for the fight – just like all of the other fights.

How do you feel about taking on this fighter that is a two-division world champion in only seven pro fights and that everyone is saying is so great?

WALTERS: The achievement is good for him. And Bob knows what he is talking about since he has been in the business for 50 years. Even Muhammad Ali lost fights. I don’t think this is a different Lomachenko from the guy that lost to Salido – he is the same Lomachenko. They say a leopard cannot change his spots right? Since he did lose to Salido, he can be as technical all he wants, but I am in the hurt business – this is a gladiator sport and I fight all of my fights like that, I fight like a gladiator. He can come in with his technical fight on Saturday and I am going to be up for it and put on a helluva show on Saturday night.

You don’t see much development in Lomachenko and feel he is ripe for the taking with your power punching?

WALTERS: Each fight is different and I am not going to tell you that I am going to fight Lomachenko the same way that Salido fought him. Of course, only a fool doesn’t learn from his mistakes, doesn’t learn from his mistakes in the ring. He has been training and working out so I know he is a more complete fighter than his first fight. I am not even worried, so to speak, but I know that he has learned and is a better fighter from that loss. But it is still a blemish on his record that he lost. With that in mind he has tasted defeat and I have never tasted defeat. We have stayed undefeated and we are going to keep it that way this Saturday.

What would this victory mean to you and your career?

WALTERS: I don’t know. This fight for me is just as important as my last fight. Each fight I have I fight hard and I fight tough. In each fight for me I defend my undefeated record. Each fight for me I am defending my pride. This victory would be a big victory because we know that this guy is no easy fight. We are not saying that Lomachenko is an easy opponent. We know he is a top fighter and a tough fighter. We are just saying that this Saturday and this victory is going to put the Axe Man to where I want to be and hopefully next year I start making over $1 million per fight. That’s what we are aiming at. So we win Saturday then move on to other opponents.

In Closing…

WALTERS: I don’t have a lot to say, just that the Axe Man is going to show that he is the real Krusher on Saturday night. Not some softee, but the real Axe Man the real Krusher will be in the ring on Saturday night.

BOB ARUM: I am absolutely thrilled that this fight between Lomachenko and Walters will be my 2000th boxing event and will definitely be a candidate for Fight of the Year with two great fighters. The HBO telecast will begin at 10:35 p.m. ET / 10:30 p.m. PT. The Kovalev-Ward replay will also be part of the HBO telecast. That fight’s scoring was very controversial so if you haven’t seen it this is your chance. Then watch the Fight of the Year, I believe, between Lomachenko and Walters. There were only 60 tickets left this morning at The Cosmopolitan and it will probably be sold out by the end of today so the best way to see the fight, if you don’t have a ticket, is on HBO.

************************

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Tecate, the few remaining tickets to the Lomachenko vs. Walters world championship event, priced at $200, $150, $100, $75, and $50 (general admission), are available for purchase at www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ or through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 and www.ticketmaster.com/. Room / ticket packages are also available.

Both fighters will host Media Workouts on Tuesday at the Top Rank Gym (3041 Business Lane, Las Vegas, Nev. 89103). Walters will be at 12:30 p.m., followed by Lomachenko at 1:00 p.m. PT. One-on-one interviews will take place before each workout.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomaWalters to join the conversation on Twitter.

ABOUT THE COSMOPOLITAN OF LAS VEGAS
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a luxury casino and resort offering a decidedly different perspective from its commitment to integrating art into every experience to the world renowned Restaurant Collection and distinct entertainment venues. Located at the heart of The Strip, its unique vertical multi-tower design offers spectacular views of the vibrant city. The 3,005-room resort features oversized residential-style living spaces with expansive, one-of-a-kind private terraces. Luxurious amenities include a 100,000-square-foot-casino with the newly-added Race & Sports Book Powered by CG Technology and expanded high stakes gaming area, The Talon Club; Sahra Spa & Hammam and Violet Hour | Hair | Nails | Beauty; three unique pool experiences; Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub, a multi-level integrated indoor and outdoor nightclub; an intriguing mix of bars and lounges including The Chandelier, an iconic multi-level bar experience; 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art convention and meeting space; 40,000-square-foot performance and event venue The Chelsea; and a modern supper club with live music and entertainment at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. An eclectic line-up of retailers include: AllSaints, CRSVR Sneaker Boutique, DNA2050, Jason of Beverly Hills, Molly Brown’s Swimwear, Rent the Runway, Retrospecs & Co, Skins 62 Cosmetics and STITCHED. Signature restaurants include: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill by restaurateurs Bruce and Eric Bromberg; Estiatorio Milos, by international restaurateur Costas Spiliadis; Holsteins from Block 16 Hospitality; Jaleo and China Poblano restaurants by acclaimed Chef José Andrés; Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. by award-winning Chef Scott Conant; popular steakhouse STK from The ONE Group; Beauty & Essex from Chef Chris Santos and TAO Group; acclaimed Los Angeles eatery Eggslut by Chef Alvin Cailan; cold-pressed local juicery The Juice Standard; bustling culinary food hall Wicked Spoon; all-day dining concept The Henry; and Starbucks, which includes a one-of-a-kind art installation.
For more information visit: www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
Find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/thecosmopolitan
Follow us on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/cosmopolitan_lv
Follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/cosmopolitan_lv
Follow us on Snapchat at: @CosmopolitanLV

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (November 16, 2016) — Bob Arum is about to hit another landmark in what has been a landmark year for the Brooklyn-born Hall of Fame promoter.

On March 29, Arum celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first event he ever promoted — the battle for the Heavyweight Championship of the World between Muhammad Ali and George Chuvalo. Next week, Saturday, November 26, at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Arum will present his 2,000th event — the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight title fight between undefeated two-division world champion VASYL LOMACHENKO and undefeated former world champion NICHOLAS “Axe Man” WALTERS. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®, beginning at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT. The following week, Arum will fly to New Zealand where he will celebrate his 85th birthday on December 8, and two days later sit ringside watching undefeated heavyweight contender Andy Ruiz attempt to become Mexico’s first heavyweight champion when he battles Joseph Parker for the vacant WBO title. Also on December 10, undefeated World Junior Welterweight Champion and top-rated pound-for-pound fighter TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD will make the first defense of his unified WBO / World Boxing Council (WBC) / Ring magazine 140-pound world titles when he rumbles with one-time world title challenger and current No. 1 contender JOHN MOLINA JR at CenturyLink Center Omaha. That fight will also be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:35 p.m. ET/PT.

“When I promoted my first fight my accountants were still using roman numerals,” said Arum. “It’s been quite an adventure.”

Here are a few of Arum’s observations from his first 50 years in boxing as previously reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

ARUM’S FAVORITE FIGHTERS

Longtime fight promoter Bob Arum has worked with thousands of fighters in his 50 years in the boxing business. Here are his top five fighters he has worked with:

1. Muhammad Ali. “He was a world figure. People loved him wherever he went. But he was also a great fighter.”
2. Manny Pacquiao. “His life story is amazing. He came from virtually nothing to captivate an entire country.”
3. Marvin Hagler. “He was the most loyal, standup guy I ever worked with. A tremendous fighter with great resolve.”
4. George Foreman. “He changed his persona and had such a big impact on our culture. He became the most loveable guy.”
5. Floyd Mayweather Jr. “He had extraordinary ability and he backed it up in the ring.”

Arum’s next five: Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya and Alexis Arguello.

ARUM’S TOP FIVE PROMOTIONS

Bob Arum lists the top five promotions he was involved in:

1. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler, 1987, Caesars Palace. “It was the Yuppie (Leonard) vs. the Blue collar guy (Hagler.) It was a great fight that did extremely well.
2. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns, 1985, Caesars Palace. “That was the first time we did a cross-country tour. We had two planes and made 26 stops. It took that fight to another level and by the time they got in the ring, they were so sick of each other they literally wanted to kill each other.”
3. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad, 1999, Mandalay Bay. “It was the first major Mexico vs. Puerto Rico fight, even though Oscar was American and from East LA. Don King had Trinidad and we had Oscar and there was a lot of back-and-forth between the two sides.”
4. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II, 1974, Madison Square Garden. “Ali got his revenge for losing the first fight and I remember the two of them getting into it while being interviewed oin television by Howard Cosell. That helped sell the rematch.”
5. Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, 2015, MGM Grand Garden. “We never had anything like it. The numbers were incredible, even though the fight wasn’t.”

Attached, please find 50 years of interesting stats on Arum and Top Rank, compiled by Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler, which includes Friday’s UniMás / Univision Deportes show in Kissimmee, and next week’s show at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas — No. 2000.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomaWalters to join the conversation on Twitter.

For more information on The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, visit www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com.

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 17, 2016) — Tickets to the blockbuster fight between two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist VASYL LOMACHENKO and undefeated former world featherweight champion NICHOLAS “Axe Man” WALTERS will go on sale This Wednesday! Oct. 19 at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT. Lomachenko and Walters will be battling for Lomachenko’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight title on Saturday, Nov. 26, at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT.

Promoted by Top Rank®, tickets to the Lomachenko – Walters world championship event, priced at $200, $150, $100, $75, and $50 (general admission), will be available for purchase at www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ or through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 and www.ticketmaster.com/. Room / ticket packages will also available.

The greatest amateur boxer of his era and arguably of all time, two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs), of Odessa, became a two-division world champion just as he did with his first professional world title, he won world title No. 2 in a record least amount of fights — SEVEN! In his last fight, on June 11, he annihilated defending three-time WBO junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez via a cringe-worthy knockout punch in the fifth round . Lomachenko captured his first world title — the vacant WBO featherweight title — on June 21, 2014, winning a scintillating majority decision over the previously unbeaten Gary Russell Jr. It was Lomachenko’s third professional bout, tying him with Thailand’s Saensak Muangsurin for fewest fights to win a world title. Muangsurin won a junior welterweight title in 1975, also in his third professional fight Lomachenko first gained international renown by winning gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games as a featherweight and a lightweight, respectively.

Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs), from Montego Bay, Jamaica, has won 11 of his last 14 fights by stoppage. He captured the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title on December 12, 2012, knocking out Daulis Presscott (26-1, 19 KOs) in the seventh round. He successfully defended the title three times during his three year reign — all by knockout — stopping Alberto Garza, former two-division world champion Vic Darchinyan and 2012 Fighter of the Year and four-division world champion Nonito Donaire in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, respectively

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, or twitter.com/hboboxing. Use the Hashtag #LomaWalters to join the conversation on Twitter.

For more information on The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, visit www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com.

LONDON (29 September) – Super-featherweight king Vasyl Lomachenko’s sensational world title showdown against undefeated Nicholas Walters will be shown exclusively live on BoxNation on November 26th.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko will defend his WBO title in a thrilling clash against knockout artist and former featherweight champion Walters from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

The fight has been in the pipeline for a while and is one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated contests, pitting two of boxing’s very best against each other to determine the undoubted number one at 130-pounds.

Both men are renowned for their hard-hitting with two-weight world champion Lomachenko, regarded as one of the sports finest technicians, looking to continue his meteoric rise by overcoming the formidable ‘Axe Man’ Walters who has stopped 21 of his 27 opponents.

‘The Channel of Champions’ BoxNation will be the only place to see all the action live, in a battle that has all the makings for a ‘Fight of the Year’ contest.

“Boxing fans will be able to spend their Thanksgiving holiday weekend feasting on the year’s most anticipated showdown,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Forget their weight class. With more than 3/4 of their victories coming by way of knockout, they punch and win like heavyweights! We know how the fight is going to end. The question is, which fighter will end it.”

“I want to thank HBO and Bob Arum for giving me this opportunity to test myself in the fight with the best. Walters you are next on my list.” said Lomachenko.

“I am very happy and excited about this upcoming bout between Lomachenko and Walters,” said Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager. “Once again Vasyl proved he wants to fight the very best fighters in his weight division and I want everyone to understand when he says so, he means it.”

“Any fighter can be knocked out no matter who he is,” said Walters. “I like fighting the best and I like fighting against a great technical fighter like Lomachenko. Look at what happened when I fought a great technical fighter like Nonito Donaire. Lomachenko is great, he knows what he is doing in the ring. But I always look for a knockout against whomever I fight. If I can do it quick, I will. This is the best fight out there in boxing today. It will be the Fight of the Year.”

“This will be a tremendous contest between two elite boxers in their prime,” said Jim McMunn, BoxNation Managing Director. “We are delighted to be airing this fight exclusively live on BoxNation and have no doubt that subscribers will be in for a real treat when the pair lock horns on November 26th. It’s got all the makings to be something very special.”

BoxNation is available on Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Online & App for just £12 a month. Buy now at www.boxnation.com.

– ENDS –
About BoxNation

BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.

BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.

For more information visit www.boxnation.com

*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

Super Featherweight titlist Vasyl Loamachenko will take on Nicholas Walters on November 26th at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and on HBO, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Much thanks and appreciation must be given to HBO management for stepping up and getting this done,” said Top Rank’s Carl Moretti said of the network, which has had budget issues all year. “We’re talking Lomachenko, who is the best boxer, bar none, from 126 to 135 pounds, against Nicholas, who is a vicious puncher at any weight. Walters is as tough as they come and is so motivated for this fight. Walters has a Ph.D. in boxing — poor, hungry and determined.”

“We tried before to make this fight but we didn’t have enough funds to do the fight based on what Nicholas was asking for, and now we’ve increased what we originally offered and we can do the fight,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN.com, adding that Walters would earn more than the $550,000 he turned down last time but that Lomachenko is not offering him a win bonus. “For me it’s the best fight we could put on at this point with Lomachenko. He is in my mind the best fighter in the world. I enjoy watching him so much. I get such a kick out of him and all the things he can do in that ring. He’s the best in the world, so the challenge is to get him the biggest possible test in every fight because that then corroborates my view of him.

“Unlike some fighters, who like to go easy once in a while, we look to get him the toughest possible guy out there to fight him because that is what he wants — the toughest, most dangerous guys. In this case, it’s Walters.”

“He wants the best challengers and for him the titles mean everything,” Arum said. “So if he goes up to lightweight, I’d have to match him with a champion. But right now we’re at the point where he has a top challenger in Walters.

“Last time we tried to make the fight it didn’t work out and maybe it wound up working out for the better because Lomachenko got the opportunity to fight for a world title against Martinez. Now Walters will make more money than we could offer him before because HBO is willing to pay more now.”