Vasiliy Lomachenko's undisputed dreams could soon be reignited
Top RankLed by new three-belt junior lightweight champion O’Shaquie Foster and three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, a five-fighter race is on to crown the division’s latest undisputed champion.
An official familiar with plans at 130lbs following Foster’s scintillating, two-knockdown unanimous-decision victory over three-division titlist Emanuel Navarrete on Saturday said the new three-belt champion could soon have the opportunity to join Japan’s Naoya Inoue as the undisputed king of his weight class.
Houston’s Foster, 26-3 (12 KOs), said after the victory that he believed he would be obligated to face WBO mandatory challenger Charly Suarez of the Philippines, who has been waiting for another title opportunity since his disputed technical-decision loss to Navarrete last year.
However, two-time Olympic gold medalist and former featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight champion Lomachenko, 18-3 (12 KOs), was ringside for Foster-Navarrete and is intrigued by the possibility of returning against Suarez, 19-0 (11 KOs).
An individual connected to the plans said a Lomachenko-Suarez bout in February would free Foster to await the winner of the December 19 WBA junior lightweight title fight between Northern Ireland’s champion Anthony Cacace and England’s former featherweight champion Nick Ball.
The Lomachenko-Suarez winner would then be first in line to challenge the new undisputed champion.
Becoming undisputed is something Lomachenko, 38, has long coveted, particularly since his heartbreaking attempt to claim all four lightweight belts was thwarted by a unanimous-decision loss to current WBO welterweight and three-division champion Devin Haney in 2023.
The usually stoic Lomachenko was moved to tears by the 115-113, 116-112 and 115-113 defeat in Las Vegas. He subsequently retired following a May 2024 stoppage victory over George Kambosos Jnr in Australia.
Now, however, another window of opportunity appears to be opening for a fighter who went 5-0 with five knockouts during his brief stint at junior lightweight in 2016-17.
During that run, Lomachenko forced four consecutive opponents to retire on their stools, including fellow two-division champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, earning himself the nickname “No-Mas-Chenko.”
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
