By Radio Rahim
In two months time, world champions Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) and Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) will finally collide in the ultimate bragging rights showdown.
Their ESPN televised bout will go down on December 9th from The Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Rigondeaux, who holds the WBA super bantamweight title, will move up by two weight classes to face Lomachenko for the WBO super featherweight belt.
British promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, who dominates the market in the UK, is now extending his promotional business to the United States. Hearn recently signed middleweight Daniel Jacobs and stages his first 'Matchroom USA' event in November. More signings and more U.S. dates will be announced in the coming months.
While Hearn is a very big fan of the Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux bout - he believes the fight is not as a big as it should be - when considering the historical nature of the contest - where two world champions, who are amateur boxing icons, are colliding in a first ever meeting where each combatant is a two-time Olympic gold medal winner.
The reason it's not as big, explains Hearn, is because neither fighter is known among casual boxing fans. He says the upcoming contest is more a fight that caters to hardcore boxing fans.
"It's a shame really.. and people [reading] this might say 'what's he talking about.' It's not as big a fight as it should be, because it's a trade fight," Hearn said to BoxingScene.com.
"You have Lomachenko, who is an unbelievable fighter... who is probably struggling to crack into the casual market.. that might change [in the future]. And Rigondeaux, who's never broken into the casual market. But two incredible fighters and it probably won't be as big as it should be - but its a great fight.
"And it's the kind of fight that would be talked about and you would say 'it would never happen.' Fair play to Top Rank and the fighters involved that stepped p and made the fight."
With Andre Ward's recent retirement, there are several fighters who are clamoring to become the new pound-for-pound king.
In the opinion of Hearn, that distinction should probably go to Lomachenko.
"I think probably Lomachenko [is the best pound for pound fighter in boxing]. I rate Crawford highly as well. I think Lomachenko probably skill wise [is the top man]. [I also rate] Golovkin, who had a very good performance against Canelo," Hearn said.
