Photos: Lomachenko, Rigondeaux - Ready For Historic Fight

Top-rated pound-for-pound fighters and Olympic legends VASILY "Hi-Tech" LOMACHENKO.and GUILLERMO "El Chacal" RIGONDEAUX will go mano a mano in a collision of world champions, Saturday, December 9, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank.

This historic battle will mark the first time two-time Olympic gold medalists have fought each other professionally at the highest level.  Lomachenko will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title against the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight champion Rigondeaux.  The fight, which will headline a spectacular all-action card, will be will be televised live and exclusively at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.      

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Roc Nation Sports and Madison Square Garden, tickets to the Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux world championship event sold out two months in advance!  It is Lomachenko's second advance sellout in his past three fights.  His April 8 title defense against former world champion Jason Sosa sold out the MGM National Harbor one month in prior to the event.

"This is the Big Apple's second-hottest ticket on the secondary market next to Bette Midler's Broadway smash, Hello Dolly!" said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank.  "The Lomachenko vs Rigondeaux title fight is a signature event in the sport of boxing.  It matches the two greatest fighters in Olympic boxing facing off against each other.  Never before in boxing history have two boxers, each the winner of two Olympic gold medals, faced each other in a professional boxing match."

“ESPN is excited to showcase this world championship event. For the first time ever, two-time Olympic gold medalists, Lomachenko and Rigondeaux, will go head-to-head and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase the event to boxing fans across our platforms in English and Spanish,” said Burke Magnus, executive vice president of programming & scheduling, ESPN.