By Allan Fox: The contracts have been signed for the June 21st fight between #1 WBO Gary Russell Jr. (24-0, 14 KO’s) and #5 WBO Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1 KO’s) for their fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title on HBO at a still to be determined venue in Los Angeles, California. This is a controversial situation with Lomachenko, a two time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine, getting a second shot at the WBO featherweight title after he was beaten in his last fight by Orlando Salido by a 12 round split decision last March.
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai on June 21st on Lomachenko-Russell Jr card
By Dan Ambrose: Former two division world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KO’s) will finally be returning to the ring on June 21st to fight 31-year-old #7 IBF, #14 WBC Yoshihiro Kamegai (24-1-1, 21 KO’s) at a still to be determined venue on the undercard of the Gary Russell Jr. vs. Vasyl Lomachenko fight. Guerrero, 31, has burned up a year of his career sitting idle after his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year in May.
Guerrero was hoping to get a rematch against Mayweather, but he was ignored by him. The fight was too one-sided for Mayweather to waste time fighting Guerrero, #9 WBO, #11 WBC, a second time, and besides that the pay-per-view numbers weren’t big enough to encourage Mayweather to give Guerrero another shot.
Gary Russell Jr. vs. Vasyl Lomachenko on June 21st
By Chris Williams: Having failed at trying to capture the vacant WBO featherweight title last March in his loss to Orlando Salido, #5 WBO Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1 KO’s) will get another chance at winning the WBO featherweight title on June 21st against unbeaten #1 WBO, #3 WBC, Gary Russell Jr. 24-0, 14 KO’s) in Los Angeles., California in a fight that could wind up at the StubHub center in Carson, California.
Earlier on Friday, Golden Boy Promotions out-bid Top Rank in a purse bid to promote the fight. Golden Boy edged Top Rank by out-bidding them by a $1,052, 250 offer to $1,050,000.
Russell Jr. questions why Lomachenko is getting another title shot
By Chris Williams: The World Boxing Organization surprised a lot of boxing fans this week when the WBO president Francisco Varcarcel ordered a fight between #1 WBO Gary Russell Jr. (24-0, 14 KO’s) and the recently beaten and arguably totally undeserving Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1). The fight between these two fighters will occur by July at the latest. What was surprising about it was that Lomachenko was beaten in his last fight by Orlando Salido on March 1st of this month, and here the WBO are giving him Lomachenko another shot at a world title.
In other words, they’re handing a fighter with a 1-1 record back to back world title shots. Russell Jr. is happy to be fighting for a world title, but he wonders why the WBO let Lomachenko bypass all the other world title challengers that the WBO has ranked. Russell Jr. feels that the WBO’s decision to give Lomachenko two shots at a world title is making a mockery of the whole idea of having rankings and a sanctioning body to oversee it.
WBO orders Gary Russell Jr. vs. Vasyl Lomachenko to fight for vacant featherweight title
By Chris Williams: World Boxing Organization president Paco Valcarcel has ordered that #1 WBO Gary Russell Jr. (24-0, 14 KO’s) and #5 WBO Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1) to start negotiating a fight for the vacant featherweight title. They have 30 days to negotiate the fight. If the two fighters’ promoters are unable to put the fight together within that time, then it’ll go to purse bids.
Lomachenko is getting what some boxing fans feel is another gift title shot after his loss 12 round decision loss to Orlando Salido earlier this month.
Lomachenko to get another shot at WBO featherweight title in the Summer, says Arum
By Chris Williams: Showing that it helps being connected with a high-powered promotional company like Top Rank, #5 WBO Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1 KO’s) will be getting an immediate title shot at the vacant WBO featherweight title in the Summer despite the fact that Lomachenko was beaten in his fight last Saturday by Orlando Salido in an attempt to capture the same title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. WBO president Paco Valcarcel is giving Lomachenko another chance to snatch the WBO featherweight title, but it won’t be against Salido again because he’s moving up in weight.
Lomachenko will be fighting against one of the top contenders that the WBO has ranked in their top 15. It probably won’t be against Gary Russell Jr., even though he’s ranked No.1 by the WBO. He’s with Golden Boy Promotions, so that’ll mean that he’s going to be likely skipped over for this fight. I wonder what the WBO will say in justifying that another contender get the shot at the vacant WBO title instead of Russell Jr?
Aftermath: Salido vs. Lomachenko
By Jay McIntyre: When you talk to or read interviews about the old sages of the sweet science their fondness for “how tough they had it”, or “the good old days” can sometimes come to light, and often these remarks are shrugged off by a younger, more hubristic generation willing to learn things their own way – the hard way. Today fighters and promoters are criticized for rushing the potential of young fighters, or alternately, protecting them so that their title shot is safeguarded.
Maxie Rosenbloom is an archaic example of a fighter rushed into a title fight against the exhausting Harry Greb, while Gerry Cooney was guarded by his promoters against fighters that could have made him better for his tilt with Larry Holmes. Vasyl Lomachenko was a victim of both – of rushing into a title fight, and also being unprepared for the style of his opponent in his title fight. He fought skillfully, and he fought nobly, but he lost due to his inexperience in the pro ranks.
No matter how you slice it, Lomachenko wasn’t ready for the big leagues
By Hector Gonzalez: Vasyl Lomachenko took his defeat gracefully and had the showmanship of a stand up guy. He gave a valiant effort and proved that he had the right tools to be a champion ‘one day’. Unfortunately, he made a big mistake, ‘overconfident’ would be an understatement. To suggest that a boxer with a great amateur record could get a champion belt in his second fight against the likes of Orlando Salido leaves me wondering what he and his managers were thinking. Then again, people did fall into his bandwagon and he even walked in as the favorite. Huge mistake.
Let’s start by stating the obvious, Salido weight in 2 pounds over the weight limit and got away with low blows through out the entire fight.
Chavez Jr. dominates Vera; Salido defeats Lomachenko
By Chris Williams: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KO’s) defeated Brian Vera (23-8, 14 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The final judges scores were 114-113, 117-110, 117-110. Chavez Jr. used his bigger size to dominate Vera, who was pulled up from the middleweight division for this fight.
The referee took a point off from Vera in the 8th round for leaning on Chavez Jr’s next. It seemed like a petty point deduction given that Chavez Jr. was getting away with throwing low blows all night long without the referee taking any points away.
Weights: Chavez Jr-Vera II & Salido-Lomachenko
It’s good thing for Vera that he’s been sparring with heavyweights to get ready for this fight, because he could be fighting the equivalent of a little heavyweight depending on how much weight Chavez Jr. rehydrates up to by the time he sets foot into the ring on Saturday.