Make way for the new stars: Lomachenko, Crawford, Thurman are today’s pound-for-pound best

Make way for the new stars: Lomachenko, Crawford, Thurman are today's pound-for-pound best

Manny Pacquiao’s star is fading, Andre Ward has been labelled dull by fight fans so many times he has stopped caring, and Sergey Kovalev may well see himself closely, narrowly outboxed and outscored by S.O.G in their June return. So who today is deserving of the mythical but also lofty title of pound-for-pound king?

It seems we have to make way for the new guard, for the news stars: Vasyl Lomachenko, the pick for many even before this past weekend’s utter dismantling of a very good fighter in Jason Sosa, and Terence Crawford, he of the speed, accuracy and power, and also Keith Thurman, a throwback in terms of constantly seeking out the very best opposition and thus far beating them.

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Vasyl Lomachenko looks unbeatable in stopping a brave Jason Sosa

Vasyl Lomachenko looks unbeatable in stopping a brave Jason Sosa

Reigning WBO super-featherweight king Vasyl Lomachenko looked utterly unstoppable in halting a brave but outclassed Jason Sosa last night. Forcing Sosa’s corner to retire their warrior after nine wholly one-sided session, “Hi-Tech” looked for all the world like an unbeaten fighter.

As we know, however, Lomachenko, 8-1(6) is not unbeaten; as hard as it may be to believe when you see such utter dominance over good fighters who are made to retire on their stool against him – Sosa being retired this time, Nicholas Walters quitting last time. One man has beaten Lomachenko as a pro, in tough Mexican warhorse Orlando Salido, but that came in the dazzling Ukraine boxer’s second pro outing.

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Results: Lomachenko beats Sosa; Usyk and Gvozdyk win

Results: Lomachenko beats Sosa; Usyk and Gvozdyk win

In a one-sided mismatch, Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) battered and beat down Jason Sosa (20-2-4, 15 KOs) in scoring a 9th round TKO to retain his WBO super featherweight title tonight at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The fight was stopped at the urging of Sosa’s corner at the end of the 9th.

Lomachenko had beaten Sosa badly to the point where the contest needed to be stopped. Thankfully, Sosa’s corner had the wisdom to stop the fight because it really needed to be stopped a round earlier in the 8th when he was badly hurt. Sosa’s face was swollen from the punishment that he’d absorbed in this hopeless mismatch.

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Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jason Sosa Tops HBO Rare Tripleheader

Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jason Sosa Tops HBO Rare Tripleheader

By now everyone’s top 10 pound for pound list includes Vasyl Lomachenko and the majority of the boxing world agrees, Loma is a top 5 pugilist in the sport. Some go as far to say he’s the best based off eye test in the last year. If the main event doesn’t do much for you, the undercard has two fighters who potentially could do some damage at their respected division facing decent talent. This rare tripleheader on HBO will be broadcasted from the MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino in Maryland.

Even as a sizable 8 to 1 underdog on the betting books, Jason Sosa is comfortable in that role. His disputed draw versus Nicholas Walters and knockout upset over Javier Fortuna gives him the confidence to make a run for the money. Once the bell rings it will show if Sosa can hang with the Ukraine native.

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Lomachenko vs. Sosa and Gvozdyk vs. Gonzalez and Usyk vs. Hunter on Saturday

Lomachenko vs. Sosa and Gvozdyk vs. Gonzalez and Usyk vs. Hunter on Saturday

HBO Sports visits Maryland for the first time since 1979 when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: VASYL LOMACHENKO VS. JASON SOSA AND OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK VS. YUNIESKY GONZALEZ AND ALEKSANDR USYK VS. MIKE HUNTER is seen SATURDAY, APRIL 8 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

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Vasyl Lomachenko-Mikey Garcia: A genuine Grudge-Match to look forward to!

Vasyl Lomachenko-Mikey Garcia: A genuine Grudge-Match to look forward to!

Who is the better fighter, once-beaten junior-lightweight ruler Vasyl Lomachenko, 7-1(5) or unbeaten lightweight champ Mikey Garcia, 36-0(30)? The two fighters themselves have had some heated verbal exchanges and now the two pound-for-pounders wish to settle it in the only place that matters, the ring, to find out who is superior.

Garcia, who looked sensational in returning to the ring to blitz Dejan Zlaticanin to claim the WBC 135 pound belt in January, told CBS Sports that Lomachenko is “only doing stuff that I did three, four years ago.” Garcia points to his own wins over Orlando Salido and Rocky Martinez, the two men who beat and got KO’d by Lomachenko respectively.

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Lomachenko vs Sosa – 2 Days: Vasyl Lomachenko premieres March 25 on HBO

Lomachenko vs Sosa - 2 Days: Vasyl Lomachenko premieres March 25 on HBO

March 15, 2017 – HBO Sports® debuts an all-new installment of “2 Days” when the acclaimed feature segment returns Saturday, March 25 at 12:10 a.m. (ET/PT) with a behind-the-scenes look at the two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko.

“2 Days” is a revealing and intimate look at a 48-hour span in the life of a boxer in the lead-up to one of his fights and the next edition will focus on Ukrainian native Vasyl Lomachenko.

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Lomachenko – Sosa Interview Transcript

Lomachenko - Sosa Interview Transcript

TODD duBOEF: On behalf of Top Rank we would love to thank HBO, the No. 1 premium channel in the world with great programming all the time, and MGM, who we have a great relationship with in Las Vegas and all over the world; and obviously both fighters — Jason Sosa has had an incredible rise especially over the past year and gotten himself a title and Vasyl Lomachenko, having only eight professional fights, has people declaring that he is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world and was also considered by many the Fighter of the Year last year. We love making matches like this. You are talking about two of the top, top fighters in the division. We know it’s going to be an incredible fight between two guys deserving of the accolades they have received.

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