Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jorge Linares preview Start time

Lomachenko found a flawless left hook to the body in round 10 to stop Linares and close the show.

Lomachenko did just that, and he has continued to break down his opponents both mentally and physically. Not Linares, who fought his way back and won a vacant lightweight title in 2014.

The tough test Lomachenko craved, the one he said would force him to finally unleash all his skills, had finally arrived.

Linares was coming forward at the start of the seventh.

At the time of the stoppage, Lomachenko was up by two points on one judge’s card, Linares was up by two on another and one judge had it tied.

But he has everything it takes to succeed at lightweight and, even as Arum grimaced as Lomachenko was asked about fighting the victor of a potential Mikey Garcia-Robert Easter title fight, Lomachenko said he would be up for the challenge. The contest lived up to the billing and hype which took place at the world-famous American mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden Arena in Manhattan, New York.

Linares had another moment in the ninth round when he momentarily knocked Lomachenko off balance with a left hand.

Linares landed a right hand that took the challenger completely by surprise. Linares was far more willing to stand and trade when Lomachenko would come in to throw combinations.

Several rounds were held in equal fight.

The power-punching Lomachenko (10 1, 8 KOs) wowed everybody in his final struggle by making his competitor quit there at the ring. Linares’ defended well, countering with single punches on the back foot.

“Linares is a great champion”, he said, “and the fight was good for the fans and everybody”. Lomachenko opened up with a big combination that was followed with a solid uppercut.

“The motivation of fighting the best gets me up in the morning, not only Lomachenko, but that is really motivating me because I’m fighting the best pound-for-pounder in boxing and I want to continue fighting the best”, he said.

Lomachenko’s right hook connected later in the fourth.

Lomachenko in the overwhelming favourite to win.

Since winning the belt in June 2014, the two-time Olympic gold medallist has beaten the likes of Suriya Tatakhun (51-1), Roman Martinez (29-2), Miguel Marriaga (25-2) and Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0), winning and defending the super-featherweight title on multiple occasions.

Lomachenko moved up to 135 pounds to challenge Linares because he couldn’t secure title unification fights at 130 pounds. The 32-year-old has put together 13 wins in a-row since last tasting defeat and in particular during that time, he has, made a name for himself in the UK.