Former three-division world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko is just days away from returning to action after a 10-month layoff and will be facing the undefeated Jamaine Ortiz this Saturday, 29th October in New York.
The former sparring partners will square off in the 12-round lightweight main event on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, and the fight could propel the winner to a shot against the reigning undisputed 135-pound king Devin Haney.
Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) returns after serving one season in the territorial defense battalion in Ukraine, a decision that delayed his return to the squared circle. His last outing in the ring remains against Richard Commey in December last year, which Loma won via unanimous decision.
“I feel great. I feel good. I can’t wait to get back in the ring on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. I think it is a special place for me. I have had many fights there. So, it’s a lucky place for me,” Lomachenko said during the pre-fight press conference.
“Sparing with Ortiz is different from being in a fight with him because your condition is not 100% yet. Therefore, I think Saturday will be interesting. I am focused on my work. I am focused on boxing. You can’t stop thinking about your country. It is always on your mind. But now I’m focused, and I need to be focused because I’m an athlete. After the fight, I will return to Ukraine to support my country,” he added.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) on the other hand, is coming off his career-best victory over former world champion Jamel Herring in Las Vegas back in May. Nicknamed The Technician”, the 26-year-old from Massachusetts is now up against the toughest challenge of his professional career.
“This fight means everything to me. This is something that I manifested in my life, eventually fighting Lomachenko. And now the time has come here in the ‘Mecca of Boxing’, Madison Square Garden. God has given me everything I have asked of him,” Ortiz stated.
In the 10-round featherweight co-main event, two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (10-1, 6 KOs) will try to get closer to a title shot when he meets alternate José Matías Romero (26 -2, 9 KOs).
The preliminary fights include middleweight prospect Nico Ali Walsh (6-0, 5 KO) and a quartet of American Olympians from the Tokyo Games: silver medalists Duke Ragan (7-0, 1 KO) and Richard Torrez Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs), Tiger Johnson (5-0, 4 KOs) and Troy Isley (7-0, 4 KOs).
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jamaine Ortiz Full Fight Card
- Main Event: Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jamaine Ortiz
- Robeisy Ramirez vs Jose Matias Romero
- Duke Ragan vs Luis Lebron
- Troy Isley vs Quincy LaVallais
- Richard Torrez vs Ahmed Hefny
- Abdullah Mason vs Angel Barrera
- Nico Ali Walsh vs Billy Wagner
- Haven Brady Jr vs Eric Mondragon
- Delante Johnson vs Esteban Garcia
