Vasyl Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) looked in great shape on Friday, weighing in at 134.6 pounds for his battle against the ultra-technical fighter Jamaine Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 26-year-old upset-minded Ortiz weighed in at 134 and looked lean at the weight.
Credit: Mikey Williams (Top Rank via Getty Images)
During the face-off, Lomachenko frowned and shook his head when Ortiz walked up to him wearing his sunglasses. Ortiz then took them off, and the two had a long staredown before they were broken apart.
By choosing Ortiz, Lomachenko chose to fight one of the more talented contenders in the division and perhaps better than many of the top five contenders. You can argue that Ortiz is a better fighter than Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, George Kambosos Jr, and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
Lomachenko hopes to use a victory over Ortiz as a springboard to get a fight against undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney. However, it’s still unknown if Haney will agree to take the fight with Loma, as he’s thinking about moving up to 140.
Should Haney vacate his four belts, Lomachenko will likely battle #2 ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for the vacant WBC lightweight title.
“This is a good opportunity to see where Loma is. It had to have been very traumatic for him spending all this time in Ukraine with an arm uniform on, with bombs going off,” said Bob Arum of Top Rank to Cornerman Boxing when asked about Vasyl Lomachenko taking on a tough opponent in his first fight back from a long layoff.
Weights:
Robeisy Ramirez 125.6 lbs vs. Jose Matias Romero 127.4 lbs
Richard Torrez Jr. 229.4 lbs vs. Ahmed Hefny 218 lbs
Duke Ragan 128 lbs vs. Luis Lebron 128 lbs
Nico Ali Walsh 159 lbs vs. Billy Wagner 159 lbs
Tiger Johnson 141.4 lbs vs. Esteban Garcia 139.2 lbs
Troy Isley 159 lbs vs. Quincy Lavallais 157.4 lbs
Abdullah Mason 135.6 lbs vs. Angel Barrera 135 lbs
Haven Brady Jr. 131 lbs vs. Eric Mondragon 130.6 lbs
“I think that would be a great fight, but it takes two to tango,” said Arum about Lomachenko potentially fighting Devin Haney next for his undisputed lightweight championship.
“We have to see where Loma is after his fight on Saturday. Is he ready for Devin Haney? We’ll have to see. I think Bill, Devin’s father, will be here [on Saturday night for the Lomachenko vs. Ortiz fight], and maybe Devin also, but Bill definitely.
“We have a really good relationship with Bill, and we’ll talk to him after the fight because Haney has a number of options. While it looks like Lomachenko is the fight that everybody wants to see, he has a tough fight on Saturday, let’s see what Bill and Devin has to say,” said Arum.
