WBC orders Vasiliy Lomachenko-Luke Campbell, mandatory tournament

Plot twist.

Despite reports that Luke Campbell and Devin Haney were all bet set to fight for the WBC’s vacant lightweight title, the sanctioning body announced today that they had accepted a petition from WBO/WBA champion Vasiliy Lomachenko to face Campbell for the belt. Haney has been ordered to take part in a four-man tournament with Javier Fortuna, Zaur Abdullaev, and Teofimo Lopez to determine the winner’s next mandatory.

Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KO) was targeting newly crowned IBF champion Richard Commey before the Ghanaian suffered a knuckle injury, leaving “Hi-Tech” to take out mandatory challenger Anthony Crolla last month. Commey intends to make a voluntary defense in June, thus giving Lomachenko time to face Campbell (20-2, 16) in an excellent clash of Olympic gold medalists before a potential four-belt unification.

The first round of the tournament will see Haney (21-0, 13 KO) face Abdullaev (11-0, 7 KO) and Lopez (13-0, 11 KO) fight Fortuna (34-2-1, 23 KO) if everything goes well.

Great title fight that includes a fun tournament and doesn’t screw over #2 Abdullaev. Seems like an optimal solution to me.