Vasiliy Lomachenko stops Jorge Linares to bolster pound-for-pound credentials

• Lomachenko comes off canvas to stop Linares for lightweight belt
• Ukrainian wins title in third division in only 12th professional bout

Vasiliy Lomachenko captured the world lightweight title from Jorge Linares on Saturday night, becoming a world champion in a third weight division in the remarkable and unprecedented span of 12 professional fights.

It’s so often looked easy for the sport’s most technically proficient fighter but Saturday’s scrap was anything but. The two-time Olympic gold medalist showed he was human against the bigger, longer champion before him, coming off the canvas at the end of the sixth round and roaring back for a devastating body-shot knockout in the 10th before a rollicking crowd of 10,429 at Madison Square Garden, bolstering an already compelling claim for boxing’s pound-for-pound throne.