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Vasyl Lomachenko Returns to Defend his Title on April 8th at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland

vasyl-lomachenko-1By Jeffrey “Italian Medallion” Cellini

On April 8, at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD., WBO World Junior Lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, 7-1, 5 KO’s, will put his title on the line against WBA Super Featherweight champion Jason Sosa, 20-1-4, 15 KO’s. The fight between the two world champions will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing,.

“I would like to thank Jason Sosa, who unlike the other champions, agreed to take this fight to determine the best in this weight division, even though everyone knows I am the division’s Papi,” said Lomachenko. “I moved up to 130 pounds hoping champions in this division were not cowards like those at 126 pounds. It looks like I was wrong. To all the other ‘champions’ in the 126 pound and 130 pound divisions, I say this to you, ‘You are not champions, you are businessmen. Bad businessmen. By avoiding risks, you cheat the boxing fans and that is bad business.’ I came to this sport to prove to myself and others that I am this big and loud champion. So, while all of you continue to hide from me, I am going forward to achieve my goals. My next step is on April 8. See you there!”

“We understand that this is the most difficult fight of our career due to the fact that we are fighting the best fighter – Vasyl Lomachenko – in the history of amateur boxing,” said Sosa. “The beauty of all of this is that I only had three amateur fights and will prove to the world that we are by far the better fighter.”

“Vasyl Lomachenko is history in the making. He is the greatest fighter in the world,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Vasyl is the total package – power, balance, skills, and tricks. And he will need to be at his best against Jason Sosa who has the talent to match his guts for getting into the ring with Vasyl. The fans watching it live at MGM National Harbor or on HBO are in for a helluva night.”

“I don’t know why this fight is happening. All of the boxing experts tell me Jason Sosa won’t win one second of any round and who am I to quibble with experts. They are probably the same experts who picked Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump,” said Hall of Fame co-promoter Russell Peltz. “Funny things happen when the bell rings. Jason Sosa is a real fighter and real fighters fight. One of the problems in boxing today is that most of the fighters are not real fighters; they are businessmen. That’s why guys ask for outrageous money to fight Lomachenko. Jason is cut from a different breed. He wants to find out how great he really is. What kind of fighter wouldn’t want this kind of a challenge?”

Lomachenko became a two- division world champion in just 7 professional fights breaking the record set by Naoya Inoue of 8 fights set in 2014. He has a record of 6-1-0 (4 KO) in World Title fights and a record of 3-1-0 (2 KO) against former or current world titlists.
Last June, at the Capital Gym in Bejing, China, Sosa defeated then-defending champion Javier Fortuna by eleventh-round technical knockout to claim the WBA Super Featherweight crown. Sosa has made one successful defense of his title, winning a twelve-round unanimous decision over Stephen Smith back in November.

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