Vasyl Lomachenko to face Nicholas Walters on November 26

While the Kovalev-Ward bout may be stealing all the boxing headlines in November, Top Rank has put together a highly intriguing fight card of its own, as two-division world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against undefeated former world featherweight champion Nicholas Walters of Jamaica on Saturday, November 26, at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The bout will be televised live on HBO.

The greatest amateur boxer of his era and arguably of all-time, two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) became a two-division world champion in just his seventh fight when he knocked out Roman "Rocky" Martinez in the fifth round.

"I want to thank HBO and Bob Arum for giving me this opportunity to test myself in the fight with the best.  Walters you are next on my list," said Lomachenko.

Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) has won 11 of his last 14 fights by stoppage, and is known for his expert boxing skills, movement, and two-fisted punching power that are at a caliber of a much higher weight class.   

"Any fighter can be knocked out no matter who he is," said Walters.  "I like fighting the best and I like fighting against great technical fighter like Lomachenko.  Look at what happened when I fought a great technical fighter like Nonito Donaire.  Lomachenko is great, he knows what he is doing in the ring.  But I always look for a knockout against whomever I fight.  If I can do it quick, I will.  This is the best fight out there in boxing today. It will be the Fight of the Year."

On June 13, 2015, at Madison Square Garden, Walters was forced to vacate the title when he failed to make the weight limit by one pound.  However, he emerged victorious, winning a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Top-10 contender Miguel Marriaga.  

In his last fight, on December 19, 2015, Walters moved up to the junior lightweight division and took on once-defeated Top-10 contender Jason Sosa, who entered the fight riding a four-year, 17-bout unbeaten streak, which included 13 consecutive knockout victories.  Walters and Sosa fought to a controversial majority draw in a bout where media and fans alike had Walters winning by a wide margin.  

"Boxing fans will be able to spend their Thanksgiving holiday weekend feasting on the year's most anticipated showdown," said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.  "Forget their weight class.  With more than 3/4 of their victories coming by way of knockout, they punch and win like heavyweights!  We know how the fight is going to end.  The question is, which fighter will end it."  

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services