By Eric Baldwin: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum sees his two fighters Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko as the two biggest stars in boxing now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are both retired from the sport. Arum says he might match Crawford and Lomachenko up against each other in the future if the money is right.
It would be a huge PPV fight if Arum does make that fight. A fight between Crawford and Lomachenko would be a win-win match for Arum and for both fighters. The winner becomes a major star in the sport, and the loser’s profile would be increased as well.
It wouldn’t be the end of one of Arum’s revenue streams, because both guys would get badly needed attention from casual boxing fans.
Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) will be facing WBC 140lb champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) next month on July 23 on HBO pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Crawford, 28, wins that fight, then Arum sees him as the No.1 guy in the sport and Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) being No.1A.
Lomachenko, 28, recently defeated WBO super featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-3-3, 17 KOs) by a 5th round knockout on June 11 to win the WBO 130lb title on HBO BAD from Madison Square Garden in New York. The performance by Lomachenko was impeccable, and it showed clearly that the Ukrainian fighter is one of the best fighters in the sport.
“I was sure if Crawford gets by Postol, he will be the next big thing in boxing,” said Arum to the Las Vegas Sun. “But after seeing Lomachenko on Saturday, maybe I have No. 1 and No. 1A.”
Lomachenko doesn’t take a backseat to anyone in the sport. Crawford is certainly a very good fighter in his own right, but he’s not been dominating his opponents lately in the same way that Lomachenko has. There’s a big difference in talent between Lomachenko and Craword. As good as Crawford is, he’s not on the same level as Lomachenko in my estimation.
All you need to do is watch Crawford’s fights against Hank Luindy, Dierry Jean, Raymundo Beltran, Thomas Dulorme and Yuriorkis Gamboa to see that he’s not in the same class as Lomachenko. Crawford was getting hit a lot in those fights, and he was staggered by Gamboa. If anyone is going to be the star, I think it’s going to be Lomachenko.
Arum, 84, isn’t sure whether he’ll match Lomachenko and Crawford up against each other in the future. There is only 10 pounds that separates the two fighters. Obviously, Crawford would need to come down in weight at least five pounds to fight Lomachenko at 135lbs in a catch-weight for the fight to be feasible. You can’t have a star like Lomachenko moving up 10 pounds to fight Crawford, because that wouldn’t be fair for Lomachenko. Crawford used to fight at lightweight, so it shouldn’t be a big deal for him.
“We don’t know, but I’d imagine someday if the money were right,” said Arum about matching Crawford and Lomachenko against each other. “Crawford is getting a lot of confidence from his victories, and I’ve never seen anybody with the confidence of Lomachenko. He goes in the ring absolutely sure he will knock out his opponent.”
If Arum is going to make the Lomachenko-Crawford fight, then he must do it soon before Crawford outgrows the 140lb division. Crawford is already running out of competition in the light welterweight division. He can’t stay in this weight class forever without stalling out his own career completely. Crawford’s growth as a star has slowed recently for lack of high caliber opposition. Arum matched him against Yuriorkis Gamboa in June 2014 in an exciting match-up, but since then, Crawford has been put in with Raymundo Beltran, Thomas Dulorme, Dierry Jean and Hank Lundy.
Crawford deserves better than that. If he moves up to 147, he can expand the pool of talented fighters he can potentially face. Staying at 140 would be a likely disaster for Crawford. That’s why it’s important that Arum match Crawford against Lomachenko at 135 as soon as possible so that Crawford can move up in weight to the welterweight division to realize his uppermost potential. Crawford’s destiny is at 147. At 140, Crawford is stuck in quicksand that will stall out his career.
Arum had this to say about Lomachenko’s performance against Roman Martinez, saying it was “the best performance I’ve seen since Ali.”
That’s a fine compliment from Arum, as he’s been around for a long time to remember Ali during the prime of his career.
Lomachenko is another fighter who can’t afford to waste too much time fighting against guys that won’t further his career. Lomachenko should look to get fights against Orlando Salido and Francisco Vargas, and then move up in weight to the lightweight division. It’s not worth it for Lomachenko to stay around at super featherweight to fight the other champions or contenders. He would be better off moving to lightweight to fight guys like Jorge Linares, Terry Flanagan, Anthony Crolla and Dejan Zlaticanin.