Fresh off his WBO lightweight title victory over Raymundo Beltran, Jose Pedraza is extremely confident of his chances for his upcoming fight against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The Puerto Rican world champion spoke to the media during a workout where he proclaimed that Lomachenko has yet to face someone that possesses the technical prowess that Pedraza has. Lomachenko and Pedraza are scheduled to unify the WBA and WBO lightweight titles on December 8.
"Technically speaking, he has never faced a fighter like me," Pedraza said.
Pedraza is looking to become just the second man in the pro ranks to defeat Lomachenko, which is no easy task. Pedraza does have plenty of experience fighting world champion boxers, including the likes of Beltran, Gervonta Davis and Tevin Farmer and is the third boxer Lomachenko has faced that is a two-weight world champion.
The 29-year-old Pedraza is returning to New York for a world title fight for the first time since January 2017. On that night, Pedraza lost his IBF super featherweight title to Davis. But regardless of his last title fight in the city, Pedraza said he is excited to return to the city, where a large Puerto Rican population is always present, especially in boxing fights.
"I'm very excited for this fight and even more because the fight will be in New York where I will have the support of all the Puerto Ricans. The fans can expect an even more focused and intelligent Jose Pedraza in the ring," Pedraza said.
The fight between Lomachenko and Pedraza is scheduled to headline a Top Rank Boxing card on ESPN at Madison Square Garden. WBO super bantamweight title Isaac Dogboe is scheduled to defend his title in the co-main event.
