ESPN 12/8 Vasyl Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza (WBA/WBO Lightweight title unification)

[patscorpio]

Vasiliy Lomachenko is ready to take another bite out of the Big Apple. Lomachenko, the pound-for-pound superstar and WBA lightweight world champion, will look to unify world titles for the first time as a professional when he clashes with WBO champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9 p.m. ET, live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. This marks Lomachenko’s fourth main event appearance at a Madison Square Garden venue.

Lomachenko-Pedraza will headline a special edition of Top Rank on ESPN, which will follow the 84th Annual Heisman Memorial Trophy Presentation.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Madison Square Garden, tickets for Lomachenko-Pedraza are on sale now. Priced at $506, $356, $206, $106, and $56, tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at ticketmaster.com and MSG.com.

“Boxing fans are excited that Vasiliy Lomachenko will be back in action on Dec. 8,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum. “He knows that in WBO champion Jose Pedraza, he faces a tough opponent with a style that may give him a lot of trouble.”

“I am ready to fight an excellent opponent like Jose Pedraza,” Lomachenko said. “My goal has always been to unify the titles, and Pedraza is standing in my way. There is something special about fighting in New York City and at Madison Square Garden. The fans in New York City are true boxing fans, and I can’t wait to put on another spectacular performance for them.”

“I am grateful to have this opportunity, since I didn’t get the chance to unify titles when I was champion in the junior lightweight division,” Pedraza said. “In this division, I will achieve my goal, and I will do it against one of the best boxers in the world. There will be a surprise on Dec. 8!”

“We are thrilled to bring fans one of the year’s marquee boxing events to ESPN,” said ESPN’s Burke Magnus, executive vice president, programming and scheduling. “Currently ranked as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Lomachenko is who fans want to watch. His historic victory last year on this night was a tremendous success, and we look forward to showcasing the world’s best once again.”

Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is widely considered to be the greatest amateur boxer in history, as he posted a 396-1 record with Olympic gold medals for his native Ukraine in 2008 and 2012. In the pro ranks, he has continued to etch his name in the history books. Lomachenko tied a boxing record by winning a world title in his third pro bout on June 21, 2014, a clear points win against Gary Russell Jr. to claim the vacant WBO featherweight title. He made three defenses of that title before moving up to 130 pounds. In his debut at 130 pounds, Lomachenko knocked out Roman Martinez with an uppercut-hook combination to win the WBO junior lightweight world title. Following the Martinez bout, Lomachenko began an unprecedented streak of four consecutive opponents – Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga, and Guillermo Rigondeaux – retiring on their stools. The Rigondeaux bout, which took place last December at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, was the first time in boxing history that a pair of two-time Olympic gold medalists fought as professionals. After six rounds, Rigondeaux quit on his stool.

With nothing left to prove at 130 pounds, Lomachenko moved up to lightweight and challenged WBA champion Jorge Linares. On May 12 at Madison Square Garden, Lomachenko suffered a labral tear of his right shoulder in the second round and was knocked down with a right hand in the sixth, only to come back and stop Linares with a left hand to the body in the 10th round. The Linares victory signified another milestone for Lomachenko. In becoming a three-weight world champion in 12 professional fights, he broke the previous record set by Jeff Fenech (20 fights) in 1988. Lomachenko has knocked out eight consecutive opponents dating back to his fourth professional bout in 2014.

Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs), from Cidra, Puerto Rico, has climbed back to the top of the sport following a January 2017 TKO loss to Gervonta Davis that saw him relinquish his IBF junior lightweight world title. He returned 14 months later as a lightweight on March 17, shutting out Jose Luis Rodriguez over eight rounds at the Hulu Theater at Madison Garden. After a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision against Antonio Moran on June 9, Pedraza traveled to Glendale, Ariz., on Aug. 25 to face WBO lightweight world champion Ray Beltran. He scored an 11th-round knockdown to seal the unanimous decision victory, becoming only the second male Puerto Rican fighter to win world titles at 130 and 135 pounds.

Televised Undercard

Isaac Dogboe's incredible 2018 will end with a date at Madison Square Garden in December.

Top Rank Boxing announced Dogboe will defend his WBO super bantamweight title on December 8 as as the co-feature fight to the December 8 Top Rank on ESPN card at MSG. Dogboe will defend his title against Emanuel Navarrete.

The fight will be the first one under a new deal Dogboe signed with Top Rank that will have the African champion fight at least three times a year. Dogboe's last three fights were on boxing cards promoted by Top Rank.

Dogboe made a rapid ascent to the top of the 122-pound mountain. After winning the interim title back in January in his home country of Ghana, Dogboe would go on to defeat Jessie Magdaleno to win the full world title on an ESPN card in Philadelphia in April. Since then, Dogboe made one defense of the WBO title, which was a first-round knockout win over Hidenori Otake. That fight took place on the August 24 Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card.

Navarrete, ranked No. 2 by the WBO, sports a 25-1 record with 22 wins coming by knockout. Navarrete has not lost a fight since the end of 2012, winning his last 20 fights.

Top Rank has rounded out its undercard for the December 8 boxing card taking place at Madison Square Garden.

The boxing company officially announced that top prospect Teofimo Lopez will open the televised portion of the card, taking on 37-fight veteran Mason Menard. The fight will see Lopez fight for the first time since injuring his right hand during his sixth-round TKO victory over William Silva that saw Lopez pick up the vacant WBC Continental Americas lightweight title.

Menard, who has WBO-NABO lightweight title, sports a 2-2 record in his last four fights including a loss to Raymundo Beltran and Devin Haney. The fight between Lopez and Menard will be for the vacant NABF lightweight title.

The televised portion of the card, being broadcast on ESPN will start at 9 p.m. ET immediately following the Heisman Trophy Presentation, also taking place at Madison Square Garden.

 

[patscorpio]

this is like the only card in december on paper thats balanced from top to bottom..good matchmaking

 

[Liu Kang]

Same Pedraza that Tank KO'd ?

 

[patscorpio]

Same Pedraza that Tank KO'd ?

yes

 

[reservoirdogs]

Loma might lose the first 1-2 rounds until he gets into his rhythm, he stuggled a little with Linares' ranginess and outboxing style last time, he didn't let Loma have his way in the pocket and Loma needs to get close to do quality work since his arms are pretty short. With that said I think Pedraza does that stuff on a lower level than Linares and I don't think he will be able to read Loma's pivot attempts as well as Linares did (always turned with him) so I expect an easier Loma victory than against Linares where iirc Linares was slightly ahead on my card at the time of the stoppage.

 

[patscorpio]

im looking forward to seeing dogboe do work once again...dude should be in the running for some award for this year

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Pedraza wins by TKO or corner pulling lomachenko out.

 

[reservoirdogs]

Pedraza wins by TKO or corner pulling lomachenko out.

Why do you see that result?

Stylistically Pedraza can be awkward for Loma for a few rounds imo cause he has a similar style to Linares, long, rangy, fighting from the outside and Linares gave lots of problems to Loma until the KO but I think Linares does that on a higher level and also is a bigger guy and bigger puncher than Pedrza. I don't think Pedraza will be able to cope with Loma's pressure the way Linares did until he got KOd.

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Why do you see that result?

Stylistically Pedraza can be awkward for Loma for a few rounds imo cause he has a similar style to Linares, long, rangy, fighting from the outside and Linares gave lots of problems to Loma until the KO but I think Linares does that on a higher level and also is a bigger guy and bigger puncher than Pedrza. I don't think Pedraza will be able to cope with Loma's pressure the way Linares did until he got KOd.

Mixture of high-tek thinking ahead of this opponent, small scale of style difference and hearing some talk of vasyll having a shoulder issue in camp.

 

[patscorpio]

 

[patscorpio]

 

[reservoirdogs]

Maybe Dogboe could make 118?

 

[Bigblackted4]

Excited about this card

 

[Bigblackted4]

I do my undercard stuff in here, Vargas putting on a show

 

[patscorpio]

I do my undercard stuff in here, Vargas putting on a show

vargas is whoopin on this boy