According to a news story on ESPN.com, former lightweight king and pound-for-pound champ Vasiliy Lomachenko is set to fight in New York on December 11. The fight, set for Madison Square Garden on the evening the prestigious Heisman Trophy will be handed out, will likely be one that sees Loma go up against Richard Commey. Also, unbeaten monster-punching super-middleweight Edgar Berlanga is in line to feature in the chief support, facing TBA.
Lomachenko is hungry (as in desperate) for a shot at redemption against Teofimo Lopez, who he dropped a decision to last October. That fight will have to wait, however, as Lopez’ troubled fight with IBF 135 pound mandatory George Kambosos Jr is still to be done (ESPN reports how a ruling will soon come from the IBF, with the fight likely to be ordered to take place in the US; Kambosos Jr wanting it in Australia).
Vasiliy Lomachenko is in advanced talks for a Dec. 11 lightweight fight with former titleholder Richard Commey at Madison Square Garden, multiple sources tell @MikeCoppinger. pic.twitter.com/5KQcrvYZK8
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) August 9, 2021
So Loma keeps busy, and Commey, 30-3(27) is a good fighter who should be able to make Lomachenko work. Since being crushed in two rounds by Teofimo in December of 2019, the 34 year old from Ghana has won one fight, this a stoppage victory over Jackson Marinez in February of this year. Commey will no doubt be ultra-motivated if he does get the shot at Loma.
Can Lomachenko, 15-2(11) get revenge over Lopez if he gets the chance? It’s a fight we want to see, certainly. Lomachenko had shoulder surgery after the loss, and he blames a seriously slow start on his defeat. Loma looked good/great in his comeback bout, when he brutalised a game Masayoshi Nakatani in June. In that fight, against a hittable foe, the 33 year old Loma looked to be back to his best.
As for the 17-0(16) Berlanga, he was forced to go the distance for the very first time in his last fight, when Demond Nicholson made it to the final bell in April. Berlanga won a commanding UD but he will no doubt be looking to get back to scoring knockouts in his next fight, whoever his dance partner is.