It seems there could be plenty of title fight unification match-ups taking place here in 2017. We’ve already had the James DeGale-Badou Jack super-middleweight thriller (which, okay, it didn’t produce the hoped for unified 168-pound champ, but the two warriors tried their best and that’s the point), and in March we will have welterweight stars Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia facing each other for two major belts.
Another hugely intriguing and exciting unification fight could happen in April, as Bob Arum, in speaking with TASS, said reigning WBO super-featherweight king Vasyl Lomachenko will likely face reigning WBA 130-pound boss Jezreel Corrales, on either the 8th or on the 15th of April.
“Lomachenko will fight on the 8th or the 15th of April,” Arum confirmed. “We have not yet concluded the negotiations with his opponent, but most likely it will be a unification bout with Corrales.”
If this fight happens, it could be one of the highlights during a very strong year overall for the sport. Lomachenko, 7-1(5) is, according to plenty of respected boxing people, the best fighter on the planet today, while Corrales of Panama is a very good, improving fighter. The 25-year-old, a southpaw like Lomachenko, is 21-1(8) – the sole loss coming via decision, way back in Corrales’ second pro outing in 2009 – and he is a proven world champion.
Corrales shocked Takashi Uchiyama to take the WBA crown in a big upset last April, and in December of 2016 Corrales followed the KO win with a decision victory in another great fight. Though he has boxed all but the two fights in Japan at home, Corrales showed with the two wins over Uchiyama that he is not afraid to travel.
Lomachenko, though, is something special, capable, as he showed last time out against Nicholas Walters, of making good fighters look very ordinary. Can Corrales test “Hi-Tech,” maybe even bring out the best in him? It’s tough to look at anything other than a Lomachenko win if this fight happens, but it is a solid match-up and of course a unification fight. Let’s hope Arum gets it done.
