Three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko of Ukraine is traveling to the U.S. this week for a briefing on negotiations on his next bout from Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum and the fighter’s manager, Egis Klimas, Arum told BoxingScene on Sunday.
Representatives of Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) and fellow three-division and current lightweight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) have been engaged in negotiations over a unification bout by year’s end.
Arum said he visited with Klimas at his Southern California restaurant on Fourth of July evening and was informed that Lomachenko, 36, is coming to the U.S. “to discuss a ‘Tank’ fight.”
Lomachenko has sought a Davis bout for more than five years.
The veteran fighter claimed the IBF lightweight belt in May by stopping former unified champion George Kambosos by 11th-round TKO, Lomachenko’s most impressive performance in years.
Arum and Top Rank executive Carl Moretti both poured water on a recent Instagram post by Davis co-trainer Kenny Ellis speculating that Lomachenko will “step aside” to let WBA champion Davis next fight unbeaten WBC lightweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), with Lomachenko awaiting the winner in 2025.
The 27-year-old Stevenson, a three-division champion and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist from Newark, New Jersey, cruised to a unanimous decision victory in a Saturday night homecoming bout against Artem Harutyunyan in the final Stevenson bout under his current Top Rank contract.
“Let’s not jump any guns. … These guys make up shit,” Arum said of Ellis’ post.
Moretti added, “So … some bucket carrier is saying ‘Loma’ doesn’t want the fight now? Make it make sense.”
While Stevenson has struggled to draw fans with his defensive style, two-time Olympic champion Lomachenko has engaged in a series of high-profile bouts starting with his title fight in just his second bout, and extending through major fights against world titlists Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
Meanwhile, Moretti called the attempt by top-ranked lightweight contender William Zepeda to fight new WBO belt holder Denys Berinchyk next “doubtful.”
Following Zepeda’s third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera on Saturday night in Ontario, California, Zepeda promoter Oscar De La Hoya said he would pursue a Zepeda title shot versus Berinchyk.
Arum said he would prefer to point Top Rank’s young lightweight Keyshawn Davis, a 2020 U.S. silver medalist, at Berinchyk.
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