Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants to put a potential lightweight unification fight together between WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and Vasily Lomachenko.
Stevenson’s contract expires with his fight on July 6th, but he might be willing to extend with Top Rank for an additional match if Arum can give him Lomachenko.
He’s been pushing for that fight against Loma for ages, but the interest hasn’t been mutual. It’s unclear whether Lomachenko will be interested in fighting Shakur unless the money is too good to turn down.
First Things First: Lomachenko vs. Kambosos
If Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) captures the vacant IBF lightweight title in his fight against George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) this Saturday in Perth, Australia, he’ll be in a position to possibly face Shakur if he wins his next fight on July 6th against Artem Harutyunyan in Newark, New Jersey.
Lomachenko is expected to dominate Kambosos without any problems, but you can’t a controversial decision. Hopefully, we don’t see a decision like in Kambosos’ last fight against Maxi Hughes last July because that was disturbing to watch.
Hughes dominated and found himself on the receiving end of a highly questionable decision against the A-side Kambosos.
Arum’s Vision
“If Lomachenko wins, and Shakur, who is scheduled to fight in July wins, then for the fall to do a Lomachenko-Shakur fight, every serious boxing fan will be watching that in awe between two great technicians fighting for a unified title,” said promoter Bob Arum to Sky Sports about wanting to put a fight together between Vasily Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson.
“Let’s see what happens. Kambosos is very very good. Even though he doesn’t come from Perth, he’s fighting on home territory, which means something.”
Lomachenko might be better off fighting Emanuel Navarrete if he’s victorious in his fight against Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight title on May 18th. A fight between Navarrete and Lomachenko would attract fans in Southern California.