WBO Junior Lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko vowed to put on a show for ESPN and that is exactly what the world-class boxer did at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) outclassed and dominated top 10 contender Miguel Marriaga (25-3, 21 KOs) en route to a technical knockout win at the end of the seventh round. Marriaga’s corner put a stop to the fight before the eighth round began.
Colombia’s Marriaga was no match for the highly-skilled southpaw from the Ukraine. Lomachenko pressed the action and hit Marriaga with a barrage of punches from different angles.
Lomachenko dropped Marriaga with a left hand in the third round, but he seemed unfazed by the punch and got up quickly. In the fourth round, Lomachenko suffered a cut in the corner of his left eye by an accidental headbutt.
Marriaga hit the canvas again in the seventh round. Lomachenko began to land at will and toyed with Marriaga at times. At one point, Lomachenko backed into a neutral corner and invited Marriaga to exchange with him.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist skills were on display as he landed punches with precision and destroyed Marriaga with body shots. This is the third consecutive opponent who has quit between rounds.
Marriaga’s two other losses came at the hands of Oscar Valdez and Nicholas Walters. Lomachenko is on another level. The only problem might be finding the Ukranian star competition.
Bob Arum told RingTV.com that he has begun talks with Guillermo Rigondeaux for a possible showdown in December.
Arum said Rigondeaux is willing to move two weight classes to Junior Lightweight to face Lomachenko.
Rigondeaux is the current WBA and IBO world Super Bantamweight champion.
“I want to [unify] titles,” said Lomachenko when asked who he wants to fight next. “For me it doesn’t matter.”
Header photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
