Getty Unified lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko.
Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez will fight to become boxing’s undisputed lightweight champion on Saturday at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
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In the United States, the main card (10 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on ESPN, but if you don’t have cable, anyone in the US can watch Lomachenko vs Lopez live on ESPN+ right here:
Note: the prelims (7:30 p.m. ET) will also be on ESPN+
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Lomachenko vs Lopez Preview
Lomachenko (15-1), the unified lightweight champion and holder of the WBO, WBA, and Ring titles, is looking to add Lopez’s IBF strap to his collection. In title fights, the 32-year-old Ukrainian is 13-1 with nine knockouts.
“When I came into professional boxing, I always wanted fights with top fighters and world champions,” he said, according to Boxing Scene. “Now, I have [another] top fighter in front of me.
“I want only to improve who I am and to improve my legacy.”
Lomachenko hasn’t fought since August 2019, when he bested Luke Campbell in England for the vacant WBC lightweight title. In his in-ring interview following the decision victory, he called for a unification battle with the victor of Lopez’s December 2019 scrap with Richard Commey in New York City.
“I won’t know [how the layoff will impact me] until Saturday night,” Lomachenko said, according to World Boxing News. “I have never been out of the ring for one full year like this. Ever. I don’t know how it will be.
“I think it’s just a ring and judges and TV. That’s it. And, of course, four belts. I’m thinking only about my future fight and the fight on Saturday. That’s it.”
Lopez (15-0), a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, dropped Commey midway through the second round at Madison Square Garden to take the IBF belt. He then celebrated with what’s become a trademark backflip.
“I’m an entertainer,” he said, according to The Guardian. “Everybody’s getting this fight because I’m an entertainer. Many people look forward to seeing Teófimo, maybe it’s not just the knockouts, it’s the backflips, the celebrations. I’m just the type of person, it’s all about entertainment. I’m in the entertainment sport. What it comes to is, I like to show off.”
Lopez was 16 years old the last time Lomachenko, who won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, lost for the first and only time; in his second professional fight, “the Matrix” succumbed to Orlando Salido via split decision in Texas in March 2014.
“That’s what it takes to go from a good fighter to a great, all-time fighter. You gotta do things like this,” Lopez said, per The Guardian. “We’ve spoken about this for a while now. Why am I gonna go back on my word? I talk the talk and I walk the walk. I believe that I can and I know I will become undisputed world champion.”
He added: “I want more. The job’s not done. I don’t need to look at what I’ve done in the past. I’m looking ahead and looking forward.”
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Where to Watch Lomachenko vs Lopez in US