Jorge Linares and Vasiliy Lomachenko received exactly what they called for.

Lomachenko will seek a title in a third weight class when he meets Linares for THE RING’s lightweight championship on May 12 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, it was officially announced Wednesday. THE RING reported that contracts were signed last week.

The highly anticipated 135-pound title clash came to fruition after Top Rank, Golden Boy Promotions, HBO and ESPN worked together to ensure competing shows wouldn’t conflict. Linares-Lomachenko will begin at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN to ensure Golden Boy’s show on HBO featuring Sadam Ali and Liam Smith will run unopposed.

“This fight marks a significant step forward for one of the greatest fighters we’ve seen, Vasiliy Lomachenko, as he goes up in weight once again to fight the best lightweight in the world, Jorge Linares,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank. “I want to thank everyone involved for making this happen, particularly Peter Nelson of HBO and the Golden Boy team, whose cooperation made this fight possible.

“This demonstrates that promoters and networks, when they work together for the good of everyone, can accomplish so very much.”

Tickets for the fight go on sale Friday at noon ET.

Mike Coppinger is the Senior Writer for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger