The lightweight division will continue to be reshaped when Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) collides with George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) for the vacant IBF world title on May 12.
Devin Haney’s move up to 140 pounds last December left the division open. However, Shakur Stevenson now holds the WBC belt, Gervonta Davis is the WBA titleholder and Denys Berinchyk will face off with Emanuel Navarrete to determine the new owner of the vacant WBO title on May 18.
Elsewhere in the lightweight division, former Lomachenko opponent Nicholas Walters is set to make his return from the abyss, having recently spent more than six years away from the ring. Walters, 38, disappeared from boxing in 2016, after Lomachenko handed him his first career defeat.
Tonight, Walters (28-1-1, 22 KOs) will take on 135-pound contender Joseph Adorno, 24, on ProBox TV’s “Wednesday Night Fights.” Walters, a former featherweight titleholder from Jamaica, hopes to have an impact in the lightweight division where his former adversary Lomachenko now campaigns.
“Lomachenko is a special fighter,” Walters told Boxing Scene. “But Kambosos is special, too. Look what he did to [Teofimo Lopez]. That is nothing to put under the carpet – he is a very good fighter. I saw him in the gym, and he is quick on the pads, looking good and looking confident.
“If he can go in there with that confidence and keep his hand speed up, he’s supposed to be the bigger man. If he can use his power – just like Lopez did with Lomachenko – and keep Lomachenko at bay, then he can pull it off. All it takes in boxing is one punch – just one punch can change everything. George just needs to listen to his corner and do him, don’t try to do what he wants you to do. Do what you were trained to do, and he can be successful.”
Lomachenko is coming off a debatable unanimous decision loss to former undisputed ruler Haney, and nearly a year will have gone by the time he steps into the ring with Kambosos in Perth, Australia. Kambosos most recently fought in a contentious decision of his own, in which he scored a majority decision win over Maxi Hughes last July.
“It’s a great fight,” Walters said of Lomachenko-Kambosoas. “You will have Lomachenko’s craftiness and IQ in boxing up against Kambosos with his youth and his speed and his power. He is smart, too. It’s going to be a great fight, but I’m not going to pick a winner. I know the people are going to love that fight; it is going to be a war. This is what boxing needs, great fights like this.
“I thought Haney won the fight,” Walters said of Lomachenko-Haney. “It was a great fight, and Lomachenko did well, but what I didn’t like is that he took the last round off in the fight. You can’t take any round off. If he did the 12th round like he did the 11th round, I’m sure they would have given it to him. But he took his foot off the gas in that final round and it was the main difference. He will need to keep that in mind. You can’t go easy and think you are ahead. You are not a judge. You can only be the judge yourself by KO. You have to push every round.”