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Lomachenko-Martinez tickets on sale now!

Three-time world champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez and World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko will go mano a mano for Martinez’s WBO junior lightweight world title and the boxing gem of Puerto Rico, Felix “El Diamante” Verdejo, will risk his WBO Latino lightweight crown, undefeated record and No. 2 world rating against Juan Jose Martinez in the co-main event of a championship doubleheader Saturday, June 11 — one day before the famed Puerto Rican Day Parade — at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The two bouts, scheduled for 12 and 10 rounds, respectively, will be televised live on HBO beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The non-televised undercard will feature the U.S. debut of two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Amateur Champion Zou Shiming from The Peoples Republic of China in a 10-round flyweight bout.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Puerto Rican Best Boxing, Diamante Promotions, SECA and Madison Square Garden, tickets to the Martinez vs. Lomachenko / Verdejo vs. Martinez championship doubleheader will go on sale Today! Thursday, April 28, at Noon ET. Priced at $300, $200, $100, $50 and $35, tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com.

 

 

 

The greatest amateur boxer of his era and arguably of all time, two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KOs), of Odessa, captured the vacant WBO featherweight title on June 21, 2014, winning a scintillating majority decision over the previously unbeaten Gary Russell Jr. It was Lomachenko’s third professional bout, tying him with Thailand’s Saensak Muangsurin for fewest fights to win a world title. Muangsurin won a junior welterweight title in 1975, also in his third professional fight. Russell, a former U.S. Olympian and current World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight world champion, was totally blitzed by Lomachenko, battered around the ring throughout the fight. From the outset of his professional career, Lomachenko made it known that he was ready for the best in his division. He made his professional debut in 2013 knocking out the WBO’s No. 7-rated featherweight contender Jose Luis Ramirez (24-2-2, 15 KOs) in the fourth round of a bout that was scheduled for 10. Less than five months later, on March 1, 2014, in his second professional bout, he challenged WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido, losing a split decision to the heavier defending champion whose title had been stripped because he could not make the weight limit. Since winning the world title, Lomachenko has successfully defended it three times, winning a 12-round unanimous decision on November 23, 2014, against No. 1 contender Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (51-1, 33 KOs), a ninth-round knockout of Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs) on the undercard of the May 2, 2015 Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao extravaganza and a 10th-round knockout of Top-10 contender Romulo Koasicha (24-4, 14 KOs), on the undercard of the November 7, 2015 Timothy Bradley – Brandon Rios world welterweight championship . Lomachenko first gained international renown by winning gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games as a featherweight and a lightweight, respectively.

Verdejo (21-0, 14 KOs), from San Juan, Puerto Rico, who earned “Prospect of the Year” honors in 2014 and 2015, began this year as a bona fide world title contender. He returns to the ring having won eight of his last 12 fights inside the distance, including his first and last fights of 2015 — a fifth-round knockout of Marco Lopez, on April 25, for the vacant WBO Latino lightweight title and a second-round pasting of Josenilson Dos Santos on December 11, which was Verdejo’s second defense of the title. In between those two fights, Verdejo successfully defended his title on June 13 at Madison Square Garden during Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated contender Ivan Najera of San Antonio, TX. This year he has scored dominant 10-round unanimous decision victories over William Silva on February 27 at The Garden and Jose Rodriguez on April 16 in San Juan. Already world-rated No. 2 by the WBO and the World Boxing Association (WBA), and No. 6 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Verdejo, 22, continues to develop into a major gate attraction, producing standing room only crowds every time he fights. A former amateur standout who represented Puerto Rico in the 2012 Olympics, Verdejo has been mentored by Puerto Rican boxing icon and Hall of Fame inductee Felix Trinidad.

 

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Lukie Ketelle

Lukie Ketelle