Sosa: I’m Always the Underdog; Lomachenko Fight No Different

By Keith Idec

Jason Sosa is accustomed to being a huge underdog.

Facing an opponent who’s heavily favored is the last thing that’ll bother him while preparing for his 12-round title fight against elite southpaw Vasyl Lomachenko.

“I’ve always been the underdog,” Sosa told BoxingScene.com. “I like being the underdog. I’ve been the underdog since Day One. I’ve only got three amateur fights, don’t have a lot of experience. But I work very hard and I’m just determined to win.”

Sosa owns the WBA world super featherweight championship, but Ukraine’s Lomachenko has developed into a consensus top-three boxer on most mythical pound-for-pound lists. Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), the WBO world super featherweight champion, will be heavily favored when they meet April 8 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

The 28-year-old Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs) acknowledged Lomachenko’s capabilities, but viewed this opportunity as one he couldn’t pass up. The Lomachenko-Sosa fight will be broadcast by HBO from MGM National Harbor, a casino and resort that opened recently in the Washington, D.C., area.

“He’s a great fighter,” Sosa said. “He’s very talented. We all know that. But beating him will put me on a whole different level, and people will come to understand who Jason Sosa is.”

The Camden, New Jersey, native cautioned those dismissive of his ability to upset Lomachenko to consider how he has fared in other fights he was supposed to lose.

In his HBO debut 13 months ago, Sosa fought to a 10-round draw with former WBA world featherweight champion Nicholas Walters (26-1-1, 21 KOs). Walters seemingly did enough to win that 10-rounder in Verona, New York, but that majority draw enabled Sosa to fight dangerous Dominican Javier Fortuna for the WBA world 130-pound championship in his following fight.

Fortuna (31-1-1, 22 KOs) was ahead on all three scorecards through 10 rounds (96-91, 95-92, 94-93), but Sosa stopped him in the 11th round to win that title fight June 24 in Beijing. Sosa since has defended the title once, when he out-boxed England’s Stephen Smith (24-3, 14 KOs) on his way to winning a 12-round unanimous decision November 12 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

“I put my mind and my heart and my soul into this, and I always come out on top,” Sosa said. “On April 8th, I’m gonna come out right on top.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.