Vasiliy Lomachenko returns to the ring for the first time since his December victory over Richard Commey, facing Jamaine Ortiz in the main event of a Top Rank boxing card at the Hulu Theater inside New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday (ESPN+, 6:25 p.m. ET).
Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), 34, a two-time gold Olympic medalist and former unified lightweight champion, was scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. in June for the lightweight championship, but Lomachenko decided to turn down the fight to stay with his family when Russia invaded his home country of Ukraine in February. Lomachenko joined a territorial defense battalion in Ukraine until August, when he returned to the U.S. to resume his boxing career.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), 26, of Worcester, Massachusetts, defeated former champion Jamel Herring in Las Vegas in May.
In Glendale, Arizona, at the Gila River Arena, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul takes on former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in an eight-round cruiserweight bout in the main event of a card that also includes former NFL running back Le’Veon Bell against UFC veteran Uriah Hall in a light heavyweight fight.
Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, is coming off an impressive TKO victory over Tyron Woodley in December. After failed attempts to face Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr. earlier this year, Paul picked MMA legend Silva as his next opponent.
Silva (3-1, 2 KOs), 47, of Brazil, defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2021 and stopped former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz a year ago in boxing matches.
Stay here for live results and analysis from Mike Coppinger and Marc Raimondi.
Watch the Lomachenko-Ortiz fight here
Fight in progress in New York: Troy Isley vs. Quincy LaVallais, 8 rounds, middleweights
Still to come:
In New York:
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Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jamaine Ortiz, 12 rounds, lightweights
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Robeisy Ramirez vs. Jose Matias Romero, 10 rounds, featherweights
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Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Ahmed Hefny, 6 rounds, heavyweights
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Duke Ragan vs. Luis Lebron, 8 rounds, featherweights
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Tiger Johnson vs, Esteban Garcia, 6 rounds, junior welterweights
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Nico Ali-Walsh vs. Billy Wagner, 6 rounds, middleweights
In Arizona:
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Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva, 8 rounds, cruiserweights
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Le’Veon Bell vs. Uriah Hall, 4 rounds, cruiserweights
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Ashton Sylve vs. Braulio Rodriguez, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
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Chris Avila vs. Mikhail Varshavski, 4 rounds, cruiserweights
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Shadasia Green vs. Ogleidis Suarez, 8 rounds, women’s super middleweights