Two 2-time Olympic Gold Medalists are facing off for the first time professionally, at the highest level, in a world championship fight. It will be Saturday, December 9 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, which has been sold out for nearly two months. It and it will be televised live on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. There will be a four-bout telecast on ESPN that will end up with the grand finale of a great night of boxing, Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Rigondeaux has been trying to get his hands on Lomachenko for a long time. He talked about that during a conference call on Wednesday:
“I wanted to fight him when he was at 126. And we tried, and we tried, and we tried, and he wouldn’t step in the ring with me. Now he is at 130 and wants to step in the ring with me because he believes now he has the advantage over me,” Rigondeaux said.
Even though he is going up two weight classes, Rigondeaux believes that he is going inflict some severe damage on Lomachenko:
“It is going to be a massacre. People should anticipate a massacre,” Rigondeaux said.
End of the day, Rigondeaux can’t wait to let everybody see that he is one of the best in the sport:
“There are a lot of things that are more important to me in my professional career. However, this would be a big feat and let the world see who is the best pound-for-pound boxer.”
This historic battle will mark the first time two-time Olympic gold medalists have fought each other professionally at the highest level. Lomachenko will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title against the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight champion Rigondeaux.
