WBO Featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko ( 4-1, 2 KOs) of the Ukraine will make the third defense of his crown this Saturday night. His opponent will be Romulo Koasicha ( 25-4, 15 KOs) of Mexico. The bout will be televised on HBO on the undercard of the main event between Timothy Bradley vs. Brandon Rios. Site location will the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lomachenko is expected to have very little trouble with Koasicha. The best Koasicha has faced to date is current IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby. Koasicha was soundly defeated by unanimous decision. This was before Selby became a world champion. This fight is more of tune-up than anything for Lomachenko. There was hope some months back that he would fight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. Each side has their version of why the fight didn’t happen. The bottom line is the fight wasn’t made.
This brings about the interesting topic of big fights for Lomachenko moving forward at 126. He has already beaten current WBC champion Gary Russell. World champion Leo Santa Cruz, Jesus Cuellar, and Selby are all with advisor Al Haymon. The current business relationship between Haymon and Lomachenko’s promoter Top Rank would seem to not allow for these fights to happen with Lomachenko. Russell who is with Haymon was a special circumstance as it was for a vacant world title.
There are some realistic fights that could happen with fighters who share the same promoter as Lomachenko. One new name that came to the forefront is former world champion Nonito Donaire. Per Top Rank CEO Bob Arum it was Donaire who is looking for a fight with Lomochenko. This is a very favorable matchup for Lomachenko and it would be against the highest profiled name he has faced to date. Looming in the background and closing fast is former Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez who is also with Top Rank. He is currently ranked number 1 by the WBO. Top Rank would likely want to build his name up a little more and get him some more ring experience. This time next year this could be a fight in serious discussion. The good news is that Lomachenko is not without viable opponent options in the featherweight division.
