Bob Arum Confirms Lomachenko vs Corrales for November

Bob Arum Confirms Lomachenko vs Corrales – Bob Arum was in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 8th, for the press conference to promote the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas.

Arum also revealed that next week he will have an exact date in November for a match-up between Vasyl Lomachenko and Panama’s Jezreel Corrales. The Panamanian is the WBA “Super World” super featherweight champion, a title he acquired in April when he defeated long-time titleholder Takashi Uchiyama in Tokyo. Lomachenko holds the WBO version of the super featherweight belt.

Lomachenko is 6-1 in the professional ranks, but by now everyone knows that is not the whole story with the man they call “Hi-Tech.” The two time Olympic gold medalist has already won world titles in the pro ranks in two weight classes, and he has established himself as one of the most technical fighters on the planet. It certainly has helped that Arum and Top Rank have been featuring Lomachenko at every turn, but he has backed it up with some scintillating performances. In his last outing, he stopped Roman Martinez of Puerto Rico in the fifth round to take the WBO title. Perhaps what makes Lomachenko so unique is that he is still just 28 years old and is ostensibly entering his prime.

None of that is likely to impress the 25-year-old Corrales, who is 20-1 overall. Corrales’ loss came in just his second fight back in 2009, and he earned an interim version of the WBA’s belt with a win this past December over Juan Antonio Rodriguez. That earned him the shot against Uchiyama, the undefeated, long time champion who had held the belt since January of 2010.

Corrales is a relative unknown, but he was a major underdog in Tokyo heading into the Uchiyama fight and the fight was over before the end of the second round with Uchiyama on the canvas and his six year plus title reign a thing of the past. The WBA’s version of the world title has not been disputed outside of Japan this decade, so kudos to Corrales for seeking out the toughest challenge to his belt possible. For Corrales, this will be his debut in the United States and the fight will undoubtedly represent his biggest payday to date.

Arum will be presenting this fight as a main event and not pairing it with his November 5th offering of Pacquiao vs Vargas. While Arum was working to finalize the date, he mentioned the 12th of November as the most likely landing spot for Lomachenko vs Corrales.

Bob Arum Confirms Lomachenko vs Corrales / picture: Corrales sends Uchiyama down to the canvas during their April title encounter.