Loma bout leads top tier return

Big-name boxing is making a comeback.

Las Vegas-based Top Rank Promotions announced on Saturday that a showdown between Vasiliy Lomachenko of Ukraine and Teofimo Lopez of the United States to unify the world lightweight championship will take place on Sept 19－likely at the MGM Grand in the Nevada gambling hub.

The 32-year-old Lomachenko, one of the sport's top three pound-for-pound fighters, owns the WBA, WBO and Ring magazine titles, while Lopez, 22, has the IBF belt.

They were initially scheduled to face each other on May 30 at New York's Madison Square Garden, but the coronavirus pandemic canceled the bout.

Lomachenko, 14-1 with 10 KOs, has not fought since Aug 31, 2019 when he beat Britain's Luke Campbell by unanimous decision. The bout with Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) represents the return of boxing's top-tier talent after all but a handful of cards were postponed or canceled because of the pandemic.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum said last month that his company was engaged in talks with the Nevada Athletic Commission and the MGM Grand about having a limited number of fans in attendance－as many as 2,500 seated in a 15,000-capacity arena－for the Sept 19 bout.

"We're not talking cheap tickets," Arum told Yahoo! Sports. "So we'd have to give them something for their money to make it a nice night and worth their while. We could serve food, give them some merchandise, a program, drinks, that kind of thing. Make it a really classy event with some great fights.

"With the purses these kids get, we just need some kind of gate revenue to help us pull this off. We have to see how things go with this virus, but by that point, we'll have had experience with this thing for a couple of months and we'll know a lot more about how to do it safely. So that's what we're trying to do."

PUNCH LINES:

? Former IBF world welterweight champ Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) could be next in line for Filipino great Manny Pacquiao.

Garcia said on the weekend that pre-fight negotiations with Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) had commenced prior to Garcia's Feb 29 win over Jessie Vargas, which took place before the pandemic put an end to boxing events.

"It seemed like things were shaping up pretty well with Manny getting on board to maybe fighting me. Then things went south and everything had to be put on hold," Garcia told boxingscene.com.

"Once things get back on track, that's the fight we're going after. I don't feel like there's a need to have a tuneup at this point. As long as I get my 10 weeks of training, I think I'll be good to go."

? Former four-division world champion Roberto Duran was discharged from hospital in Panama City on July 2 and is now at home recovering from a bout with the coronavirus.

The 69-year-old ring legend, who won world championships in the lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions, tested positive for the virus on June 25－three days after the 40th anniversary of his career-defining triumph over Sugar Ray Leonard.

Announcing his discharge in a video posted on Instagram, Duran compared his fight with the virus to a world-title bout, adding: "I may be an ex-world champion, but the doctors and nurses are the true champions of life. Day after day they give the best of themselves, regardless of the risk they take."

Duran turned pro at age 16 and fought until he was 50, compiling a record of 103-16, with 70 KOs.