After some back-and-forth negotiations originally stalled the fight, a deal has been made.
Unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko will face IBF titleholder Teofimo Lopez Jr. on Oct. 17., as reported by ESPN.com on Wednesday night. While the location of the fight has yet to be determined, paperwork is slated to be signed Thursday.
"It's not done (until) the contracts are signed, I'm not being an alarmist or so forth, but I made the deal with David (McWater, the manager of Lopez)," Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said to ESPN, about getting both lightweight champions, who fight under his promotional banner, into the ring. "We've got to paper the deal, which will be done (Thursday)."
The 32-year-old Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) holds the WBA and WBO titles and is the WBC franchise champion as well, while the 23-year-old Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) became the IBF champ in December after a second-round TKO of Richard Commey. Following that bout, Loma and Lopez briefly posed in the ring at Madison Square Garden, previewing their showdown.
There's no love lost between the two, as Lopez took to his Instagram account late last month and jabbed at Loma: "I’ve been in the gym ... p—! You’re a little boy to me, I’ll kiss you on yo forehead. FOH!"
According to ESPN, Lomachenko was reportedly willing to concede a portion of his purse to meet Lopez's demands as part of these negotiations.
Lopez has professed "The Takeover" of the division during his rapid ascent up the rankings. Defeating Lomachenko, who's regarded as arguably the pound-for-pound best in boxing, would represent a major shift in the division.