Vasiliy Lomachenko: record, next fight and profile →
Manny Pacquiao, 39 years old, is looking to close 2018 with a bang. On Monday, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya announced that a deal had been reached with Pacquiao to challenge Argentina's World Boxing Association "regular" welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse.
As WBA lightweight titlist Jorge Linares prepares for his May 12th showdown versus Vasyl Lomachenko, he will be doing so without his long-time trainer, Ismael Salas, who is in the UK working with David Haye as he readies for his rematch against Tony Bellew.
Jorge Linares, the WBA's lightweight world champion, will face the biggest challenge of his career on the May 12th at Madison Square Garden in New York City. On that day, Linares will go up against two-time gold medial winner Vasyl Lomachenko. But according to Linares' longime coach, Ismael Salas, the Venezuelan boxer will have a new trainer in his corner.
THE HAPPY HABIT of the biggest fights being made across most of the weight divisions in recent times continues with the very appealing match-up between Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares, set for May 12 at Madison Square Garden.
According to the Manila Times, eight division former world champion Manny Pacquiao has refused to get in a war of words over the ongoing claim that his promotional contract expired with Top Rank. In the last few weeks, several of Pacquiao's camp members have claimed that Pacquiao is now promotional free agent, with his contract allegedly expiring in the aftermath of his twelve round decision loss at the hands of Jeff Horn last July in Brisbane.
The formal announcement went out on Wednesday morning that WBA lightweight titlist Jorge Linares will be facing two-division champion, Vasyl Lomachenko, on May 12th at New York's Madison Square Garden, as the headline bout of a card that will be televised by ESPN. The deal which was actually finalized last week didn't come without obstacles.
WBA lightweight world champion Jorge Linares (44-3, 27 KOs) is very confident in his ability to overcome the biggest test of his career, two-time Olympic gold medal winner Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs). The contest has been finalized for Saturday, May 12, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ESPN will televise the fight. Linares, a three-weight world champion, is riding a 13-bout unbeaten streak dating back to 2012 and he's faced some stiff competition along the way.
In a battle of two of the world’s pound-for-pound best, JORGE “El Niño de Oro” LINARES will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) and Ring Magazine Lightweight titles against VASILIY “Hi-Tech” LOMACHENKO on Saturday, May 12, at “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden. Linares vs. Lomachenko will be televised live and exclusively at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Cuban trainer Ismael Salas came out and denied the circulating rumors that he split with the lightweight world champion of the WBA, Jorge Linares. "There is no split, there is only gossip that does a lot of harm to the Cuban community," Salas told the Voces del Deporte program on ESPN Deportes' local radio station in Miami.
NEW YORK – Like most boxing observers, Freddie Roach favors Vasyl Lomachenko over Jorge Linares. But Roach, Linares former trainer, was impressed enough by what he saw from the WBA lightweight champion six weeks ago to think he has a chance to upset Lomachenko when they meet May 12 at Madison Square Garden. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) will move up from the super featherweight division (130 pounds) to challenge Venezuela’s Linares (44-3, 27 KOs) in a 12-round, 135-pound title fight ESPN will televise.