Boxing: Vasyl Lomachenko opens as a big favorite over Guillermo Rigondeaux

It's been written before and will be written again, but 2017 has been boxing's best year in ages, and now it has an appropriate closing number. Pound-for-pound superstars Guillermo "El Chacal" Rigondeaux (17-0, 1 NC, 11 KOs) and Vasyl "Hi-Tech" Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) will meet at Madison Square Garden on December 9.

Even if their professional records don't jump off the page at you, these two fighters have close to 900 amateur wins between them, and each has a pair of Olympic gold medals.

The fight will take place at 130 pounds, which means "El Chacal" will go up two weight classes to take on Loma for the WBO Super Lightweight title.

Lomachenko, 29, comes into the fight on a six-fight KO streak. His last outing saw him obliterate the overmatched Miguel Marriaga on ESPN. Despite having a loss on his record, which came in his second professional fight against a very tough opponent in Orlando Salido, Lomachenko is quickly rising up the pound-for-pound rankings in the boxing world.

Rigondeaux last fought on the Kovalev-Ward II undercard. His fight ended in the first round when he knocked out Moises Flores after the bell rung. The fight was originally ruled as a win for the Cuban, but was later changed to a no contest.

Over two months out from the fight and Lomachenko (-450) is being priced as a heavy favorite against the 36-year-old Rigondeaux (+350). Loma is definitely the A-side of the card, so even with the hefty price-tag attached to his name, he figures to receive a majority of the action as the fight draws nearer.

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