Bob Arum: Vasiliy Lomachenko will fight again in first quarter of 2025
Jul 22, 2024 • 2:00 PM ET
While turning his back on a unification bout against Gervonta Davis this year, Vasiliy Lomachenko expressed that he will “definitely” fight again and a first-quarter bout in 2025 is the plan, promoter Bob Arum said Monday.
“We’ll see him again. (Lomachenko) made that clear,” Top Rank Chairman Arum said.
The 36-year-old IBF lightweight champion instructed Arum and his manager, Egis Klimas, to halt negotiations with unbeaten World Boxing Association champion Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) due to reasons Arum described as “personal and confidential.”
Arum said Lomachenko’s decision was influenced by war strife in his native Ukraine, which is under fire by Russia.
“He doesn’t want to fight for the rest of the year – it’s legitimate, stuff to do with Ukraine and his family,” Arum said.
While the move leaves Davis to pursue another option for a fall bout – with another three-division champion, WBC lightweight belt-wearer Shakur Stevenson, seen as the strongest candidate – Lomachenko may easily turn back to Davis for his next bout.
“It could be ‘Tank’ as far as Lomachenko is concerned,” Arum said. “He’s made his money and he’s saved his money.”
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.
