• Fight for vacant lightweight belt could take place in UK • Campbell in line to meet conqueror of Anthony Crolla

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The WBC has ordered Luke Campbell and Vasyl Lomachenko to fight for the vacant lightweight title.

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Campbell, 31, has been expecting to fight the world’s finest fighter since the Ukrainian stopped Anthony Crolla in four rounds last month and the latest development from the WBC means he could do so for three of the four world lightweight titles.

Lomachenko defended the WBA and WBO titles against Crolla in Los Angeles, where Campbell narrowly lost to Jorge Linares for the WBA title in 2017.

Campbell has since relocated from Miami to train with Shane McGuigan, winning his past three fights to return to contention to challenge for world honours, this time against the fighter who has succeeded Floyd Mayweather as the world’s very best, pound-for-pound.

“The WBC has accepted Vasyl Lomachenko’s petition to fight for the WBC lightweight title,” the sanctioning body said.

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“A fight between mandatory challenger Luke Campbell from UK and multiple weight division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko from Ukraine with the vacant WBC lightweight championship on the line, is officially ordered. Mikey Garcia, as WBC Emeritus champion, reserves his right to fight for the lightweight title.”

Campbell’s promoters Matchroom are understood to be optimistic about the prospect of luring Lomachenko to the UK for what would prove as significant fight as his friend and compatriot Oleksandr Usyk’s against Tony Bellew last year.