Former lightweight king Vasiliy Lomachenko is nearing a deal for his second fight of 2021.
The Ukrainian superstar is in advanced talks to face Richard Commey on December 11 at Madison Square Garden, according to ESPN.
Lomachenko bounced back from his October 2020 world title loss to Teofimo Lopez comfortably halting the challenge of Masayoshi Nakatani in the 9th round of their June bout. Lomachenko’s team have made no secret of the fact that they want a rematch with the undisputed champion but in the meantime, look set to face Commey, the former IBF lightweight title holder.
Lopez had been set to make a defence of his world titles in June on Triller against IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos but the bout was postponed after the champion tested positive for Covid-19. Their fight was then hit by a legal dispute which now appears to have reached a conclusion. The IBF, according to ESPN, are now expected to rule that Triller must stage the fight in the United States. It had appeared at one stage that the fight would take place in the challenger’s home country, Australia, but Lopez threatened to vacate the IBF title.
Lomachenko v Commey is another good marker to show where the Ukrainian is at in his career. The 34-year-old Ghanaian fought in February knocking out Jackson Martinez in round six of their fight in Las Vegas. The win signalled the return of Commey after Lopez had spectacularly stopped him in just two rounds in December 2019. The victory catapulted the American into stardom and also gave him the IBF title which Commey had been defending for a second time.