Yuriorkis Gamboa Willing To Face Lomachenko

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Vasyl LomachenkoVasyl Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KO’s) is regarded by some to be the best amateur boxer of all time. Out of his 300+ amateur fights he has only lost once and has competed in and won gold in two different Olympic games. As a pro,Lomachenko started off with no soft opponents and went on to fight opponents with 20+ pro bouts under their belt.

The toughest test of his career came in his second fight when he took on Orlando “Siri” Salido for Salido’s WBO featherweight title (which Salido had lost on the scale due to being overweight). The fight itself was close.Lomachenko ended up losing but what he gained in knowledge in the pro ranks from the Salido fight would prove to be better than the title at stake.

Three months later Lomanchenko would go on to fight for the same title but this time he would go up against Gary Russell Jr. Lomanchenko would win a majority decision over Russell and grab his first world title but since then his level of opposition would drop.

The lack of quality opposition is not Lomanchenko’s choice. You could say he is at fault due to talent, but he has stated and shown on several occasions that if you put the best opponent in front of him that is willing to face him, he has no problem with that. Sadly for him, his last three opponents have not even been ranked in the top ten in the division. Lomanchenko has considered the possibility of a move up in weight to find better opposition but would the move up actually land him better fights?
Yuriorkis GamboaOn November 8th, Yuriorkis Gamboa stepped into the picture to issue a challenge to Lomanchenko via social media. Gamboa stated that he is no longer a 126-pound fighter but would be more than happy to face Lomanchenko at 130 pounds.

“I am not [a] 126 lb. [fighter]. But at 130 lb Vasyl Lomanchenko and I can get 16,000+ people in the MGM Grand if Top Rank and HBO was up to it.”

Gamboa has not fought in almost a year. His last fight took place on November 15th when he fought Joel Montes de Oca in Mexico. Prior to that he faced the first loss of his career when he faced off against Terrence Crawford in his second fight at 135 pounds which Gamboa stated himself was too high for him to fight at.