December 20, 2024

Vasyl Lomachenko officially vacates 130-pound title

Vasyl Lomachenko will stay at lightweight, as expected.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Vasyl Lomachenko has officially vacated the WBO super featherweight title and will remain in the lightweight division, but his return date is uncertain at the moment.

Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KO) beat Jorge Linares to win the WBA “world” lightweight title on May 12 at Madison Square Garden, and it was announced then that he would return to the ring on August 25, likely to unify with WBO lightweight titleholder Ray Beltran.

But ESPN.com reports that the plans for that have changed, according to Bob Arum of Top Rank, who says it’s still possible that Lomachenko-Beltran is next, just not in the summer.

Meanwhile, as reported before, the vacancy for the WBO 130-pound title will be filled by a fight between Christopher Diaz (23-0, 15 KO) and Masayuki Ito (23-1-1, 12 KO) on July 28, headlining an ESPN+ card from Florida. That fight isn’t finalized yet, but Top Rank is working on the deal now.

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