Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1 7KOs) picked up one of the biggest wins of his career despite making his foe come-up two weight classes as he defended his WBO super featherweight title by stopping one of the generation’s best Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1 11KOs) in the main event of Top Rank’s final event of 2017 from The Theater at Madison Square Garden, which was broadcast worldwide via ESPN.

Despite less than stellar commentary from Mark Kriegel, the bout started strong with a close chess match of contesting slow turning into a Vasyl Lomachenko highlight reel as Lomachenko’s heralded activity started from round two and never stopped. Rigondeaux looked inactive and unable to do enough to keep the bigger man Lomachenko off him. The fight was marred by clinches that seemingly were never refereed the same way.

At the end of round five, Lomachenko hit Rigondeaux after the bell with little warning. Rigondeaux lost a point in the sixth round for holding.

Rigondeaux failed to answer the bell for the seventh round.