Fight Week: Vasily Lomachenko, Nonito Donaire return to ring
FIGHT WEEK
VASILIY LOMACHENKO WILL FACE RICHARD COMMEY IN HIS BID TO REMAIN A TOP 135-POUNDER. AND NONITO DONAIRE RETURNS AGAINST REYMART GABALLO.
Vasiliy Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) vs. Richard Commey (30-3, 27 KOs)
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV/Stream: ESPN and ESPN+
Division: Lightweight
At stake: No major titles
Pound-for-pound ranking: Lomachenko No. 7
Odds: Lomachenko 7-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Also on the card: Jared Anderson vs. Oleksandr Teslenko, heavyweights
Prediction: Lomachenko UD 12
Background: Lomachenko is the last of four top 135-pounders to fight during a two-week period. Teofimo Lopez was upset on Nov. 27 by George Kambosos, who became undisputed champ. Devin Haney outpointed Joseph Diaz Jr. on Saturday. And Gervonta Davis overcame a stiff resistance to defeat Isaac Cruz on Sunday. Now Lomachenko has a chance to show how he measures up. The former pound-for-pound king lost his crown to Lopez by a unanimous decision in October of last year. The 33-year-old Ukrianian rebounded to stop Masayoshi Nakatani in June but still seems to be an afterthought when pundits discuss the best lightweights. And a victory over Commey probably won’t change that. The 34-year-old Ghanian can punch with the best of them but has limited all-around ability, as we saw when Lopez took him out in two rounds in December of 2019. The former titleholder bounced back to stop capable Jackson Marinez in six rounds this past February. His most-impressive victory was an eighth-round knockout of Raymundo Beltran in his first title defense in June 2019. On the undercard, 22-year-old heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (10-0, 10 KOs) of Toledo, Ohio, continues his education against Ukrainian Oleksandr Teslenko (17-1, 13 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder.
Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs) vs. Reymart Gaballo (24-0, 20 KOs)
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
Where: Carson, Calif.
TV/Stream: Showtime
Division: Bantamweight
At stake: Donaire’s WBC title
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: NA
Also on the card: Kudratillo Abdukakhorov vs. Cody Crowley, 10 rounds, welterweights; Brandun Lee vs. Juan Heraldez, 10 rounds, junior welterweights; Hiroaki Teshigawara vs. Marlon Tapales, featherweights
Prediction: Donaire KO 7
Background: The ageless Filipino Flash – 39 years young – will be making the first defense of the title he won by stopping then-unbeaten Nordine Oubaali in four rounds this past May. Many believed that Donaire was finished as an elite fighter when he lost wide decisions to Jessie Magdaleno and Carl Frampton at 122 and 126 pounds in 2016 and 2018, respectively. What did he do? Move back down to 118, at which he resurrected his status. He won two fights, gave pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue all he could handle in a decision loss and then beat Oubaali at 38. The jury is still out on Gaballo, also a Filipino. He seemed to be schooled by Emmanuel Rodriguez in his most-recent fight and first serious test yet somehow emerged with a split-decision victory and the opportunity to fight for a major title. Donaire isn’t the technician that Rodriguez is, which might give Gaballo a chance in this fight. However, in terms of all-around ability and punching power, the challenger has never faced anyone even remotely like Donaire.
Conor Benn (19-0, 12 KOs) vs. Chris Algieri (25-3, 9 KOs)
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
Where: Echo Arena, Liverpool
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Welterweight
At stake: No titles
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: Benn 6-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Also on the card: Katie Taylor vs. Firuza Sharipova, lightweights (or Taylor’s undisputed title); Karim Guerfi vs. Jordan Gill, featherweights; Joe Cordina vs. Jesus Amparan, junior lightweights; Robbie Davies Jr. vs. Hank Lundy, junior welterweights; Caoimhin Agyarko vs. Noe Larios Jr., middleweights
Prediction: Benn UD
Background: Benn hopes to continue his slow ascent up the welterweight ladder against a 37-year-old former junior welterweight titleholder. The son of Nigel Benn has looked sharp as he has stepped up his opposition, including a wide decision over rugged Adrian Granados in September. That followed a first-round knockout over a solid opponent in Samuel Vargas in April. Benn is ranked by all four major sanctioning bodies, meaning his shot at a title will come if he continues to win. Algieri outpointed Ruslan Provodnikov to win the WBO 140-pound title and then immediately challenged WBO 147-pound champ Manny Pacquiao, who put him down six times en route to a lopsided decision victory. Algieri later lost to Amir Khan (UD) and Errol Spence Jr. (TKO 5) but has won his last four fights. He returned from a 22-month layoff to nearly shut out Mikkel LesPierre this past August, his most-recent fight. On the undercard, Katie Taylor (19-0, 6 KOs) will be defending her undisputed lightweight championship against Firuza Sharipova (14-1, 8 KOs).
Dmitry Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs) vs. Umar Salamov (26-1, 19 KOs)
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
Where: Ekaterinburg, Russia
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Light heavyweight
At stake: Bivol’s WBA title
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: Bivol 13½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Also on the card: Magomed Kurbanov vs. Patrick Teixeira, junior middleweights; Eduard Skavynskyi vs. TBA, welterweights; Ruslan Kamilov vs. Dmitrii Khasiev, junior lightweights; Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov vs. Rilwan Oladosu, junior lightweights; Artysh Lopsan vs. Ramil Gadzhyiev, super middleweights
Prediction: Bivol KO 10
Background: Bivol, arguably the best 175-pounder in the world, will be making the second defense of the WBA title (eighth if you count the WBA’s “regular” title) against Umar Salamov. The champ, a boxer-puncher from Russia, bowled over in succession Sullivan Barrera, Isaac Chilemba, Jean Pascal and Joe Smith Jr. to establish himself as a force in the division. He’s coming off a closer-than-expected decision victory over Craig Richards in May. Bivol had been out of the ring for 19 months. Salamov, a Las Vegas-based Russian, has won seven consecutive fights since he lost a close decision to Damien Hooper in 2017 in Hooper’s native Australia. He last fought in April, when he defeated Sergei Ekimov by a split decision in Russia.
Also fighting this week: Johnriel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) is scheduled to defend his WBO bantamweight title against Paul Butler (33-2, 15 KOs) on Saturday in Dubai (no TV in U.S.). Also on that card, Sunny Edwards (16-0, 4 KOs) defends his IBF flyweight belt against Jayson Mama (16-0, 9 KOs).
