Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s interested in matching Vasily Lomachenko against Shakur Stevenson next if he wins his fight against former IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey next month on December 11th.
Arum revealed that he hasn’t spoken to the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) or WBO super featherweight champ Shakur (17-0, 9 KOs) yet, but that’s one that he’d like to make next if possible.
Lomachenko is headlining against Commey (30-3, 27 KOs) on December 11th on ESPN at Madison Square Garden in New York next month. This will be Lomachenko’s second fight since losing his WBA, WBO & WBC Franchise titles to Teofimo Lopez last year in October 2020.
Arum hoped to set up a rematch between Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) and Lomachenko. Still, Teo has balked at that idea, preferring to face his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr in an easy payday fight on November 27th.
“That’s the fight I want to see. I haven’t talked to Lomachenko about it, and I haven’t talked to Shakur about it, but I’m a fan like everybody else, and that’s a fight that I’d like to see,” said Bob Arum to Fighthype.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko, 33, bounced back from his loss to Teofimo by stopping Masayoshi Nakatani by a ninth round knockout last summer on June 26th.
Nakatani is a fighter that Teofimo had many problems beating in July 2019, but a healthy Lomachenko made it look easy defeating the Japanese fighter.
Shakur dethroned WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring by a tenth round knockout last month on October 23rd in Atlanta. The victory for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Stevenson, 24, made him a two-division world champion.
Since beating Herring, Stevenson has been calling out WBO 130-lb champion Oscar Valdez, but Top Rank isn’t ready to make that fight yet. Arum plans on matching Valdez against the former two-division world champion Emanuel Navarrete next.
“I think Lomachenko is a special fighter, and I think when he fought Teofimo, he was fighting him with a bad shoulder,” Arum said.
“So, it’s boxing. [Richard] Commey is a hell of a puncher and a really good fighter, and that’s why people are going to pay money to see them at Madison Square Garden [on December 11th].
“That’s up to Loma and his father [trainer Anatoliy Lomachenko],” said Arum when asked if the super featherweight division is the best division for Loma.
“How would I have the nerve to tell Lomachenko what weight he should be fighting or not when they’re two astute boxing people, Loma and his father.
“Let’s look at this fight [Lomachenko vs. Commey], and then I’ll sit down with Loma and his father, and we’ll determine what he should do next,” said Arum.
We’ll see if Shakur is interested in facing Lomachenko next because he wants the unification match against Oscar Valdez. But if Stevenson can’t get that fight, his options aren’t that great at 130. Shakur is a defensive fighter who is very hard to hit.
Any of the talented guys at super featherweight are likely to steer clear of him.
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Bob just wants Youngblood to replace LOMA
Would love to see this now. Devin Haney needs to fight Tank now. Ryan Garcia needs to fight Santa Cruz now. Let’s get all the mouths in the ring again the best NOW and sort it out. Gutless these guys are so protected.
I think a Loma and Shakur fight is ppv worthy.