By Jake Donovan

It took a few weeks longer than expected, but everything else about the three-belt unification bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Luke Campbell is flowing along smoothly.

Both boxers came well within the 30-day weight threshold as imposed by the World Boxing Council (WBC), one of the three belts at stake for their Aug. 31 showdown at O2 Arena in London, England.

For the 30 day weigh-in, the boxers must not be more than 10% of the divisional limit which in this case would be 14 pounds (rounded up) above the 135-pound maximum weight. Lomachenko (13-1, 10KOs) checked in at a finely-sculpted 144.5 pounds, while Campbell (20-2, 13KOs) also looks fight-night ready as he weighed 147.4 pounds.

The pairing pits a pair of 2012 Olympic Gold medalists, with those games taking place in London. Ukraine’s Lomachenko—a two-time Olympic Gold medal winner and the Val Barker Trophy winner as the most outstanding boxer of the 2008 Beijing Olympics— fought just once in town since then, coming in 2013 during his tour in the World Series of Boxing.

Since then has come an historic pro run, fighting for a major featherweight title in just his second pro fight—a narrow points loss to an overweight Orlando Salido—and winning the strap in his third bout. Lomachenko has since captured titles in two more weight divisions, including his off-the-canvas knockout of Jorge Linares last May to claim a lightweight title.

The win placed Lomachenko in the record books as quickest three-division titlist in boxing history, doing so in just 12 pro fights. The feat has since been matched by the excellent Kosei Tanaka, who did so just four months later.

Luke Campbell

Never one to be outdone, the 31-year old Ukrainian southpaw added a second lightweight belt to his arsenal after a 12-round win over Jose Pedraza in their unification bout last December. He enters this bout on the heels of a four-round drubbing of England’s Anthony Crolla, a former lightweight titlist.

UK fans are hopeful that Crolla’s countryman enjoys a far better fate.

Campbell makes his second attempt at a major title. The Hull, England native came up just short in a spirited 12-round defeat to Linares in their Sept. 2017 battle in California. Three wins have followed, including a 12-round win over Yvan Mendy last September to become the WBC mandatory challenger.

The victory was doubly satisfying as it avenged the first defeat of his career, dropping a disputed decision in Dec. 2015. While waiting out his mandatory title shot, Campbell has since taken on a stay busy bout, stopping Adrian Yung in five rounds this past March.

The next safety weight check will be at the 14-day mark (Aug. 17), at which point they cannot weigh more than 142 pounds, or 5% above the contracted limit. From there will come a 7-day check, where they must be within 3% of the lightweight max or 139 pounds. 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox