With the defeat of George Cambosos Jr., 36-year-old boxing sensation Vasily Lomachenko once again rose to the top as the new IBF Lightweight Champion, and the question of who he will face next has become the focus of much discussion. This week, Lomachenko's promoter, Bob Arum, revealed to the media three potential opponents, all of whom are elites.
The three potential adversaries are:
Shakul Stevenson
Gwotta Davis
Emmanuel Navarrete
Arum said that of the three potential opponents, he sees "Mayweather II" Stevenson as Lomachenko's first choice.
Stevenson, who is now the WBC lightweight champion, has a delicate relationship with Arum at the moment, and he will face Artem Haruyunyan on July 6, which will be the last fight between Stevenson and Arum, and it remains to be seen whether the two will continue to work together after this fight.
If Stevenson renews his contract with Arum, then the big battle with Lomachenko will be a matter of course, if the two sides break up, Arum can still try to facilitate the battle with Lomachenko, in short, Stevenson's stay will be a key factor affecting the confrontation with Lomachenko.
The Lomachenko vs Davis fight is also eye-catching, but the two are on different camps, Davis is a fighter under the PBC, and it is relatively difficult to match, Lomachenko wins better, and if he loses to Davis, his IBF belt will go to PBC, which is not the result that Arum wants.
In addition, Navarret, known as the "fighting cowboy", will also be a popular choice for Lomachenko, and the two sides are both under the command of Arum, so it will be relatively easy to match. Navarrete will take the stage this week against Ukrainian fighter Denis Porincheko for the vacant WBO lightweight title, and if he wins, Navarrete will become another four-time champion in Mexican history and knock on the door to Lomachenko, but the problem is that Navarrete is a little weaker than Davis and Stevenson, and he is a representative of strength over fame.
"The philosophy of professional boxing is that you try to win all four belts, and we can take a look at it, Davis is going to face Frank Martin, and we can see who wins," Arum said. Navarrete was a 130-pound champion and has now moved up to 135-pound, so there's a chance he's possible. Stevenson will make his debut in Newark in July to defend his WBC title, and we're just waiting for the results. ”
At present, the 135-pound lightweight four boxing champions are basically in place, in addition to WBC champion Stevenson and IBF champion Lomachenko, Davis is the WBA ordinary champion, Navarrete VS Porincheko will decide the WBO champion this week, so the situation is very clear, what Lomachenko needs to fight for is to carry out a unified war of boxing champions to make a bigger breakthrough.
One of Lomachenko's biggest regrets so far was last year's Black Whistle defeat to Devin Haney, otherwise he would have become the undisputed hegemon of his division. Now, age dictates Lomachenko's room to stretch, so he must hurry, at least theoretically, there is still hope, even if he can't fulfill his long-cherished wish, then he can fight again through 1-2 super battles before retiring.