After Dmytro Rudenko fell ill on the day of the Ukraine Otamans versus British Lionhearts weigh-in, two-time AIBA World Champion and undisputed amateur pound-for-pound king Vasyl Lomachenko will step in to make his long-awaited World Series of Boxing (WSB) debut when he faces England’s Sam Maxwell in Saturday’s Lightweight (57-61kg) contest.
24-year-old Lomachenko is now a fully fledged boxing superstar after adding the London 2012 Olympic Lightweight (60kg) gold medal to the Featherweight (57kg) one he claimed in such style at the 2008 Beijing Games. The two-time AIBA World Champion, after triumphing both in Milan in 2009 and in Baku in 2011, is one of the world’s most feared boxers.
The electric southpaw has one of the finest pedigrees on the planet and fans worldwide will rejoice at the prospect of seeing him light up the WSB competition.
In other World Series of Boxing news…
The last match of this exciting World Series of Boxing (WSB) weekend will see Dolce & Gabbana Italia Thunder host USA Knockouts at what will be a packed Mediolanum Forum on Saturday 12 January (21:00 local time). This mouth-watering Group B encounter will be one to savour with the hosts lining-up their biggest names to fight, including Italian duo Vincenzo Picardi and Clemente Russo as well as Filipino star Charly Suarez.
Pocket dynamo Picardi will be gunning to make right his split decision week one defeat against former teammate Veaceslav Gojan when he faces young American Joe Gregory Perez in the night’s opening contest at Bantamweight (50-54kg). The 29-year-old Italian 2008 Olympic bronze medallist will be slight favourite in this one but will have to continuously remain focused versus an opponent who boasts a 3-0 record in the pro ranks and can punish you at any moment.
There will be great anticipation around the Lightweight (57-61kg) bout with a huge number of Filipino fans set to attend the match in order to lend their boisterous support to their compatriot Suarez when he makes his way into the ring to face the Knockouts’ Anvar Yunusov. It will be a pulsating affair between two top quality fighters. Suarez will have to use all of his craft to defeat the 25-year-old Tajik southpaw, the reigning Asian Champion, bronze medallist at AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 and one of the first signings for AIBA Pro Boxing (APB).
Suarez declared, “It is fantastic to know that over 300 Filipino spectators will be watching me. The atmosphere will be amazing. I am thankful to them and to my team for their support”. On his opponent he told us, “His record speaks for itself, he is a world class boxer”.
Although his record reads two losses this season, one must not be fooled by the talent of Italia Thunder’s Michel Tavares. The 23-year-old French southpaw lost to Middleweight (68-73kg) king Sergiy Derevyanchenko then to Olympic silver medallist Fred Evans so will be fired up to improve his 9-4 WSB record when he meets American Clarence Joseph in the third contest of the night.
At Light Heavyweight (80-85kg), it will be Hungarian Imre Szello who will be leading the line for the Italian outfit. The clever and technically gifted 29-year-old will have his work cut out against the battle-hardened Bosnian Dzemal Bosnjak, who really impressed on his WSB debut when he overpowered Ukraine’s Denys Solonenko in week four. This is also another one to really look forward to.
Bringing the show to a close, Italian poster-boy and Thunder’s team captain Russo will then look to extend his unbeaten WSB record to 17-0 when he locks horns with the USA’s powerful Heavyweight (91+kg) Paul Koon III. The 2007 AIBA World Champion and double Olympic silver medallist will want to perform in front of his expectant fans and in order to do so will have to box clever against the hard-hitting Koon. The 26-year-old American is fast, with some devastating punches in his arsenal, so Russo must leave nothing to chance if he is to claim victory here.
A sold-out event, two mean looking teams and an array of quality boxers will ensure that this match really captures the imagination of the fans.
Like all other matches this week-end, it will be broadcast LIVE on worldseriesboxingtv.com as well as on Sky Sport 3 in Italy, and on repeat that same evening at 23.45 on Sky Sports 2 +, then on Sunday 13 January at 13.15 on Sky Sports 3 and 19.00 on Sky Sport 2.
