Vasyl Lomachenko is looking close to unbeatable right now; which may seem a strange statement as the reigning WBO 130 pound champion has lost a fight, and all that many fights ago at that. But the Lomachenko who lost a close decision to an over-the-weight and very crafty and tough Orlando Salido – in what was just Lomachenko’s second pro outing– was not on display last night in Las Vegas.
Lomachenko, expected by some to have some problems, maybe, with the power of Nicholas Walters, instead put on a dazzling boxing clinic that made “The Axe Man” say No Mas after seven rounds (this one day after the 36th anniversary of the most infamous quit job in boxing history, when Duran threw up his hands against Sugar Ray Leonard in their return bout). But there was no mystery over why Walters quit: he was getting schooled and he knew it. Lomachenko made a good fighter look very ordinary.
The question is, who and what next for Lomachenko, 7-1(5)? After last night’s easy win, the 28-year-old southpaw called out reigning WBC super-featherweight champ Francisco Vargas. Vargas, unbeaten at 23-0-2(17) and last seen going to war in a 12-round thriller of a draw with Salido, is a tough and exciting Mexican warrior who is almost always in a great fight. But can the 31-year-old give the slick, the powerful, the seemingly untouchable Lomachenko a fight?
Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum – who wants to match his two stars, superstar Manny Pacquiao and upcoming star Lomachenko together next year – doubts Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya will risk his fighter by putting him in with the dazzling Ukrainian. But if it’s not Vargas next, then who will Lomachenko fight? Is the two-weight king already running the risk of meeting the fate other avoided fighters such as Guillermo Rigondeaux (what a pity these two are not the same weight!) and Gennady Golovkin have endured, and being sidestepped by the big names he wants to fight?
A return meeting with the teak-tough Salido would seem to be a natural, but can an agreement be made by the two fighters’ teams? (interestingly, according to a Tweet by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Arum told him after last night’s fight that he wants to make the return with Salido next, then have Lomachenko fight Britain’s Terry Flanagan after that, and then make the Lomachenko-Pac-Man super-fight in late 2017).
Fans want to see as much of Lomachenko as they can and “Hi-Tech” wants to fight regularly, against the very best. Arum has called his fighter the best natural talent he has seen since the peak Muhammad Ali, and top British promoter Frank Warren agrees with such lofty praise.
But can Lomachenko get the defining fights he needs to prove his greatness?
