FILE – Vasiliy Lomachenko celebrates his Junior Lightweight bout victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2017 in New York City. Steven Ryan/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK — Vasiliy Lomachenko will return from shoulder surgery when he faces Jose Pedraza on Dec. 8 at Madison Square Garden in a lightweight unification fight.
Lomachenko tore the labrum in his right shoulder while knocking out Jorge Linares on May 12, also at MSG.
The fight against Pedraza will mark the fourth time the three-division world champion from Ukraine will be in the main event at MSG. It will come inside the Theater, where he stopped Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux last December in the first pro bout between two-time Olympic gold medalists.
The bout was announced Tuesday by Top Rank.
Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) will defend the WBA version of the 135-pound title against Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs), a Puerto Rican who won the WBO title in August.