Vasiliy Lomachenko-Anthony Crolla official for April 12th in L.A.

Thanks to a couple of delays, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Anthony Crolla have avoided a purse bid for their WBA-mandated title fight. Top Rank VP Carl Moretti tells ESPN that the two are set to go at it on April 12th at Staples Center in Los Angeles, with super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez making his 175-pound debut against TBA in the co-main.

The original plan was to pit Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KO) against newly minted IBF champion Richard Commey on that date, but the latter suffered a knuckle injury in his beatdown of Isa Chaniev that required surgery and will likely keep him out until summer. As such, Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KO) gets the call. The Manchester man earned his mandatory status with wins over Ricky Burns, Edson Ramirez, and an unexpectedly resurgent Daud Yordan following a pair of losses to Jorge Linares.

Also, I suppose announcing this co-feature is an oblique way of explaining how Billy Joe Saunders is fighting Shefat Isufi for Ramirez’s title the day after.