NEW YORK — Pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko had accomplished so much in his first dozen pro fights by winning world titles in three weight classes and setting a variety of all-time boxing records along the way, but there was one thing that had eluded him: unifying belts.
But the brilliant Lomachenko now can check that box off his bucket list.
Lomachenko scored two knockdowns in the 11th round and dominated Jose Pedraza to unify two lightweight world titles on Saturday night in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The sellout crowd of 5,312 cheered wildly when Lomachenko decked Pedraza twice in the penultimate round to put the cherry on top of his overwhelming display. In the end, one judge had it 119-107 and two judges had it 117-109. ESPN had it 118-108 for Lomachenko, who, like Pedraza, was making his first title defense.