Top Rank on ESPN will broadcast a special Friday boxing event from the Staples Center in Downtown, LA featuring a lightweight championship main event Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Anthony Crolla and the light heavyweight debut of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez against Tommy Karpency. All the action will be available online through live stream on ESPN +.
Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) is considered the best pound for pound boxer in the world and currently holds the WBA/WBO world lightweight championship belts.
The former 126 and 130 pound champion trains out of Oxnard, California and can’t wait to headline a boxing event in the city of Los Angeles in front of a star-studded crowd.
He will take on his mandatory opponent in British challenger and former world champion Anthony “Million Dolla” Crolla of Manchester, England.
Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KOs) is a former WBA lightweight titlist and heading into Friday’s bout he will be a huge underdog with something to prove.
Both fighters fought Jorge Linares with Crolla losing back to back decisions and Lomachenko stopping Linares in 10 and capturing the WBA lightweight world title.
This fight can either be a lopsided victory for Lomachenko or a huge upset win for Crolla.
Ramirez (39-0, 25 KOs) is a former 168-pound champion holding the WBO title and will make his light heavyweight division debut against American Tommy Karpency in a 10-round bout.
The 27-year-old Ramirez comes from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico and won the WBO super middleweight title against Arthur Abraham in 2016, he successfully defend the belt five times and believes his body has grown out of the division.
Going up a division will help the 6 foot 3 inch southpaw avoid being drained and weak. Fighters normally move up a division or two as they mature and their body fills out.
The preliminary undercard bouts will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 8 PM ET/PT as well as the main card which starts at 11 PM ET/PT on April 12, 2019.
