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Not so long ago — though it feels pretty long ago — boxing fans were looking forward to this past weekend, as it was slated to feature a May 30 lightweight unification bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez.
That’s one of the best and biggest fights we’ve lost during the COVID-19 lockdown across the world, but promoter Bob Arum is now tentatively planning the fight for September, he tells ESPN, which is the month he’s hoping there will be at least a limited amount of spectators allowed at fights.
Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KO) holds the WBA and WBO lightweight titles, and is considered by many to be the sport’s current top fighter, pound-for-pound. The 32-year-old from Ukraine is a small lightweight, though, really a natural featherweight, and the 22-year-old Lopez (15-0, 12 KO) will be naturally bigger and stronger. That, along with the fact that they’re just a pair of titlists with solid name value, makes for a very intriguing matchup on paper.
Hopefully, we’ll get it done. Lopez, along with other young lightweights like Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, has been barking a lot during the quarantine/lockdown period, while Lomachenko has been pretty quiet. I think I saw some video of him fishing at some point.