By Keith Idec
One fight into his very promising professional career, promoter Bob Arum already considers Vasyl Lomachenko one of the world’s best boxers.
“I think Lomachenko is among the top five best fighters in the world now,” Arum said. “I think he is fantastic. I know his preparation is fantastic. I think Lomachenko will be a major, major star. As good as Gennady Golovkin is, which he is, as good Provodnikov is, which he is, Lomachenko will out-shine them all. He is absolutely phenomenal.”
That said, Arum is as anxious as anyone to see how Lomachenko fares Saturday night, when he’ll face rugged Mexican Orlando Salido for Salido’s WBO featherweight title at Alamodome in San Antonio. The 12-round Salido-Lomachenko match will open HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” doubleheader at 9:45 p.m.
The 26-year-old Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO), who won two Olympic gold medals for Ukraine, has boxed less than four full rounds as a pro. The highly skilled southpaw looked like a seasoned pro in his debut Oct. 12 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where he knocked out Mexican veteran Jose Ramirez (25-4, 15 KOs) in the fourth round.
The 33-year-old Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs, 1 NC) is much more formidable than Ramirez, though. A three-time featherweight champion, Salido has participated in 10 world title fights and was the first fighter to defeat Puerto Rico’s Juan Manuel Lopez (33-3, 30 KOs), whom Salido stopped twice.
“The thing you’re concerned about is [Lomachenko] going those rounds,” said Arum, whose promotional company, Top Rank Inc., signed Lomachenko last summer. “So when I talked to Lomachenko and his father [Anatoly] about it, he said, ‘There is no fighter around who can go as many rounds as I can. I train to go 30, 40 rounds.’ And he does. I’ve never seen anybody train that way. Have you seen a fighter stand on his fists, with his legs in the air, and walk 10 times, back and forth, across the ring? I mean, that’s [bleeping] crazy.
“His father started him out as a dancer. He’s very, very light [on his feet]. He’s very maneuverable. He could be a performer in Circus Olay. So he doesn’t train as a normal fighter. He’s an acrobat. He’s something really special. Now, it could all come crashing down because he’s not in with a cream puff in Salido, who’s a helluva fighter. The one reason we picked Salido, besides that he is the champion, was because Salido is famous for taking fighters deep into a fight. So that’s the only reservation I have. If Salido takes Lomachenko into the 10th, 11th round, is it true that Lomachenko doesn’t lose any of his stamina?”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
