Ukraine can meet summer with four world champions
The last month of spring should be historical for Ukrainian boxing: straightaway three of our fighters will have championship fights. Alexander Tendril will meet in a fight for the title of absolute world champion with Tyson Fury. Denis Berinchyk will challenge WBO title lightweight with Emanuel Navarrete. Basil Lomachenko in the same division will fight with George Kambosos for the IBF belt. And on the penultimate day of March Sergei Bogachuk can be WBC junior middleweight championif he defeats the American Sebastian Fundorou. Let’s talk.
30th of March. Las Vegas. Title fight WBC junior middleweight Bogachuk – Fundora
For 28-year-old Bogachuk, the upcoming fight is the first big title fight in his career (the WBC America belt does not count). The Ukrainian knockout artist suffered his only defeat in the professional ring – all 23 victories were early – back in 2021, losing ahead of schedule to Brandon Adams. Then – five victories, three of which were in the first two rounds.
Read also: Bogachuk: I want to show everyone, show the world that Ukraine is a strong country
26-year-old Fundora suffered his only defeat in the professional ring (20 wins and a draw) in his last fight, losing early to Brian Mendoza. Both boxers know each other well and are equal in strength, so the fight should be interesting.
As, by the way, will be the boxing evening in Las Vegas, where in addition to Bogachuk and Fundora, Erislandy Lara, Isaac Cruz, Keith Thurman, Rolando Romero and Tim Tszyu will enter the ring.
12 May. Perth. Title fight IBF Lightweight Lomachenko – Kambosos
Lomachenko has lost three major fights in his professional career. Yes, all three are debatable, but their results remained, and the Ukrainian himself was unable to fulfill his dream. The first – lost to Salido – did not allow Lomachenko to become a world champion in the pros in the second fight, setting a world record. Two other defeats – in fights with Lopez and Haney – did not allow him to become the absolute world champion.
Lomachenko is again forced to start collecting belts. But if in 2014 Vasily was 26, now he is 10 years older. And it is far from a fact that even after winning the IBF belt from Kambosos, Vasily will have time to collect the remaining three before retiring from sports. A loss to Kambosos will likely end Lomachenko’s professional career.
May 18. San Diego. Title fight WBO lightweight title Berinchik – Navarrete
Perhaps Lomachenko or himself will be “helped out” by another Ukrainian competing in the lightweight division – Denis Berinchyk, who on May 18 in San Diego will meet with the Mexican Emanuel Navarreteza for the vacant WBO champion belt. If Denis and Lomachenko win, it seems that organizing a fight between two Ukrainians will not be difficult. Yes, it won’t bring money, but for the legacy, the Berinchyk-Lomachenko fight is quite real.
Read also: Berinchyk took the longest time from the “golden” Ukrainian team to reach the title fight. Two amateur world champions didn’t get their chance
It took Berinchyk more than eight years to reach a full-fledged title fight – the longest of the “golden” Ukrainian team of 2011-2012. The Ukrainian’s opponent is 29-year-old Mexican Navarrete, a very experienced boxer with 40 fights at the professional level (38 wins) and 13 (!) title fights. Navarrete looks even more dangerous than Kambosos for Lomachenko. Considering the fact that Berinchyk will only fight for the fourth time outside of Ukraine and the first time in the USA, it becomes clear why bookmakers consider the Mexican the favorite of the fight.
May 18. Riyadh. Fight for the title of absolute heavyweight champion Usik – Fury
Everything is clear here and no unnecessary words are needed. The most anticipated fight in heavyweight and professional boxing in recent years. The first unification match in the Royal Division in a quarter of a century. The fight for the right to go down in history.
The Usyk-Fury fight was postponed six times. I would like to believe that this time the fight will take place, and the sum of 10 million dollars that a boxer who refuses to fight on the scheduled date will “help” the Briton not to jump.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
