On Saturday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) scored two knockdowns and eventually stopped Miguel Marriaga (25-3) in seven rounds for a TKO win.
Marriaga was dominated, went down in the third and the seventh, and the Colombian's corner stopped the contest at the conclusion of the seventh.
The fight headlined an ESPN televised card - with Lomachenko making his debut on the network.
Lomachenko is now looking for the biggest opponent possible, but not many of them are biting.
But WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) says he is more than willing to face him - if Lomachenko moves up.
On Thursday, the two fighters met face to face for the first time at ESPN’s L.A. Live building. Both of them were present for separate televised interviews.
While Lomachenko claimed Garcia was standing firm on the requirement that Showtime televise their fight, Garcia states that he's willing to take their fight to whoever puts up the most money.
Last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Garcia moved up to the welterweight division and dominated Adrien Broner over twelve rounds. Garcia plans to return to the lightweight limit of 135 for either Lomachenko or a unification with WBA champion Jorge Linares.
Garcia believes the encounter with Lomachenko could become a pay-per-view event.
“This fight [with Lomachenko] could be on pay-per-view because all the fans have been asking about it,” Garcia said to the Los Angeles Time. “We’re the main names [below 147 pounds]. No other names can generate that kind of attention. I’m more than happy to work at it.”
However, Lomachenko's manager, Egis Klimas, does not agree with that direction. He believes the contest would need more seasoning to become a pay-per-view attraction.
“The worst thing we can do is go on pay-per-view and fail,” Klimas said. “It needs to be built.”