By Sevak Sarkisian

As most fight fans already know, two time Olympic Gold Medalist and current WBO super featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1 5KO’s) will be stepping back into the ring to defend his title against former WBA titlist Jason Sosa (20-1-4 15KO’s) on Saturday April 8^th.  The bout will be televised live on HBO at 10pm ET/PT and will take place at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill Maryland. 

Vasyl Lomachenko is a two time Olympic gold medalist and is widely regarded as the best amateur boxer that ever lived bosting an impressive record of (396-1). The sole loss was to Albert Selimov which he later ended up avenging.  In October of 2013, Lomachenko turned professional and had his debut fight against featherweight contender Jose Ramirez which he ended up winning by knockout.  He then immediately went on to face veteran former champion Orlando Salido and lost by a split decision to the Mexican action star.  However, Lomachenko proved to the boxing audience that night that he’s not just a skilled talented fighter with a great amateur background, but a fighter who possesses mental grit and durability to go along with it.  Though he ended up losing that fight, it was evident to me that with only a few more professional experience he would develop into a complete fighter.  We are now three years removed from the Solido loss and he’s arguably the top pound for pound fighter in the sport. He holds wins over world class fighters such as Gary Russell Jr, Roman Martinez and Nicholas Walters and has managed to become a two division world champion in eight fights. 

Lomachenko stands 5’6 in height and possesses a 65 ½ in reach.  He fights out of the south paw stance and possibly has the highest skill set in the sport currently.  He is also extremely athletic and possesses good punching power.  Lomachenko also has good speed of feet and hands.  He has the ability to move swiftly in and out of punching range as well as the hand speed to let go of four punch combinations at will.  He also has the mental toughness, physical durability and boxing IQ to go along with his capabilities.  In my humble opinion, Lomachenko is going to be considered the best fighter of his generation once his career is over with.  He obviously has to accomplish more but he’s certainly on his way with the type of resume he has with only 8 professional fights under his belt.  He is also not afraid to take on the biggest challenges as he’s already demonstrated in his eight pro fights. 

Jason Sosa on the other hand has a much different boxing background.  He started boxing at the age of 21 and has only had three amateur fights.  He stands at 5’5 in height and possesses a 67 inch reach.  He is an aggressive minded fighter with good punching power and good punch selection.  He carries a confident mindset and is an explosive fighter with good fundamentals who usually likes to fight at a high pace.  He holds a knock out win over Jerry Belmontes, a draw with Nicholas Walters and a TKO win over Javier Fortuna who was (29-0) at the time taking his WBA title along with his undefeated record.  Jason Sosa is undoubtingly a world class fighter and great athlete in his own right to be able to become a world champion after starting boxing at 21 after only 3 amateur fights.  This is another top super featherweight Lomachenko will be in with and unlike Walters, he’s going to come in determined to get the win!