Vasiliy Lomachenko 16-2 (11) may yet land a fight with undisputed lightweight champion George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-0 (10) although it is unlikely to take place until the back half of this year.
Australian Kambosos, 28, was expected to make the first defence of the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring magazine titles against the 34-year-old Ukrainian southpaw at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on June 5.
But the war with Russia in Lomachenko’s homeland the bout is unlikely to proceed as planned.
Promoter Bob Arum revealed the fight was almost a done deal before Russia’s invasion of their western neighbour late last month.
“Everything was done,” the Top Rank boss told Fight Hub TV. “Everything was done. [Kambosos’ promoter] Lou [Dibella] is dealing with Jeremy Koegel, our [legal] counsel, and they had agreed to everything.
“Lou sent us a lovely letter today that he would hold out for a little while, but they’d have to go on, but thanking us for negotiating all of this in good faith.”
Kambosos surprised many pundits and fans with his clear win over Teofimo Lopez 16-1 (12) in his last bout, dropping the reigning champion in the opening round and closer out the bout strongly after finding himself on the deck in the 10th. The scores at the end of proceeding were 115-112 and 115-111 for Kambosos and 114-113 for Lopez.
Many expected Kambosos to take a soft touch in his first title defence but the Sydneysider has remained adamant he only wants to face the best in the division.
“If this doesn’t get resolved by the end of the week, Lou has to look out for his fighter,” Arum continued.
“He’s been a gentleman in all of this. There’s always tomorrow. So Kambosos can get another opponent, hopefully wins, and then he can fight Loma later in the year, assuming the conflict has been resolved.”
With Lomachenko seemingly out of the running, WBC titlist Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 27-0 (15) appears to be the next best option.
Earlier this week, promoter Eddie Hearn said they were close to closing a deal for Haney to challenge Kambosos.
“I believe this fight is going to get closed,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said to the DAZN Boxing Show. “I think that obviously, the Ukraine situation with Lomachenko rules him out of the mix as well here.
“Talks have been very positive between DAZN and Matchroom, Haney, DAZN, and Lou DiBella. I just feel that we can close this fight and it’s a must-make.
“The undisputed lightweight world championship in a stadium, in Australia, give George Kambosos his day. Give Devin Haney, who I believe is one of the biggest emerging stars in the sport, his opportunity to become the undisputed champion.
“If George wins, we can run it back in America, not a problem.”
