By Dan Ambrose: Bob Arum says Vasily Lomachenko will take the remainder of this year off and then return in 2024 to potentially face former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in Australia.
The winner of the Lomachenko vs. Kambosos fight could be elevated to IBF 135-lb champion if the current belt holder Devin Haney elects not to return to the weight class after his fight against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis in December.
Haney says he’ll come back down to lightweight for the “right fight,” but that’s clearly not for a rematch with Lomachenko. Devin is still holding out hope for a match against Gervonta Davis that would be a significant payday.
As such, there’s an excellent chance the Lomachenko-Kambosos winner will be elevated to IBF lightweight champion if Haney fails to get the Tank Davis fight that he’s hoping for.
Arum states that former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) feels “cheated” by his questionable 12 round unanimous decision loss to Devin Haney last May in Las Vegas.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko feels he deserved the win over Haney, and many boxing fans agreed with him.
Nevertheless, Haney chose not to give Lomachenko and even mocked him afterward for his anguish over his defeat, as if expressing sadness in response to a controversial loss was a sign of weakness.
“Loma feels he was cheated out of his fight with Haney, and the fight was debatable as far as who won it,” said Bob Arum to Pro Boxing Fans on Vasily Lomachenko’s loss to Devin Haney last May.
“I think he’s taking some time off, and we’ll look to match him with Kambosos next year,” said Arum.
The popular Australian Kambosos (21-0, 10 KOs) snapped a two-fight last July, defeating Maxi Hughes by a twelve-round majority decision in Shawnee, Oklahoma. That was the former unified lightweight champion Kambosos Jr.’s first fight of his newly assigned contract with Arum’s Top Rank.
Lomachenko is the fight that Kambosos had hoped to take last year, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine foiled his plans.
Instead of Kambosos getting the fight he wanted against Lomaachenko, he wound up facing Haney. He was dethroned in an ugly fight that involved a lot of clinching, jabbing, movement & roughhouse tactics from Devin.
There’s good money for Kambosos & Lomachenko to make fighting in Australia in early 2024, as that’s a fight that could take place in a stadium.
