By Keith Idec
A limited amount of available challenges at 130 pounds apparently has convinced Vasyl Lomachenko to move up to 135 pounds for his next fight.
Promoter Bob Arum told the Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire during an open workout Friday at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club that Lomachenko’s next fight “definitely” will take place within the lightweight division sometime late in April. Arum also said that his promotional company, Top Rank Inc., will target Ray Beltran and Jorge Linares before settling on an opponent for Lomachenko at lightweight.
Ukraine’s Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) is the WBO super featherweight champion, but Arum hasn’t been able to secure title unification fights against WBC champ Miguel Berchelt (32-1, 28 KOs) or WBA champ Alberto Machado (19-0, 16 KOs).
Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose company promotes former IBF 130-pound champ Gervonta Davis (19-0, 18 KOs), also has said he has no interest in matching Davis against Lomachenko at any point in the foreseeable future. Lomachenko settled for facing previously unbeaten WBA super bantamweight champ Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC) in his last fight, a technical-knockout win December 9 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The 29-year-old Lomachenko – a southpaw who’s considered one of the top boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport – could win a world title in a third weight class if the two-time Olympic gold medalist moves up to lightweight.
Venezuela’s Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) will defend his WBA 135-pound championship Saturday night against Mercito Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs) in a fight HBO will televise from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Linares is represented by Golden Boy Promotions.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy’s president, said recently that his company would work with Top Rank to make fights that make sense. Golden Boy works with HBO and ESPN as television partners, whereas Top Rank has an exclusive deal with ESPN.
Phoenix’s Beltran (34-7-1, 21 KOs) and Namibia’s Paulus Moses (40-3, 25 KOs, 1 NC) will fight for the vacant WBO lightweight title February 16 in Reno, Nevada. ESPN will televise the Beltran-Moses match from Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.