Vasyl Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell and Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney eliminators all ordered by WBC

In a surprise move, the WBC have responded positively to a request from Super WBA and WBO lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko to be allowed to dispute their vacant title at 135lbs. The sanctioning group have ordered a vacant title match between the Ukranian - previously unranked by them due to his holding the other belts - and mandatory challenger Luke Campbell of Hull.

Additionally, the WBC have sought to establish a four-man tournament to find the next mandatory for the Lomachenko vs Campbell victor. They have ordered ’semi-finals’ pitting Teofimo Lopez vs Javier Fortuna and Devin Haney against Zaur Abdullaev. Those already salivating at a potential Lopez vs Haney clash of unbeaten talents should be cautioned that just because these matches have been ordered does not mean they will happen. Indeed, Lopez, who impressively steamrolled Edis Tatli last month, is likely to fight an IBF final eliminator versus Masayoshi Nakatani on July 20. Before the Tatli win, Lopez spoke to us about his plans to face IBF ruler Richard Commey before then targeting Lomachenko.