All photos by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
After christening the MGM National Harbor’s sold out inaugural boxing card with an unquestionably dominant performance, Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) is surely establishing himself as one of the sport’s best fighters, pound for pound.
With his hand speed, footwork and superior boxing acumen on display, the Ukrainian dismantled his frustrated and severely outmatched opponent, Jason Sosa, in nine rounds at the behest of Sosa’s corner.
Sosa even admitted that he had nothing to offer the two-time Olympian.
“I couldn’t really execute anything. He’s a great fighter,” said a dispirited Sosa, post-fight.
As the two-weight world champion continues to blow through the best available competition without issue, we have to wonder, what’s next for Lomachenko?
After the fight, Lomachenko had this to say about his next move, “I want to go home, rest and negotiate with all the champions in my division.”
In the Super Featherweight division the available champions for Lomachenko to unify with are Jezreel Corrales (WBA), Gervonta Davis (IBF) and Miguel Berchelt (WBC).
Unfortunately, Berchelt has already agreed to face former champion, Takashi Miura, though no date or venue have been set.
It’s unlikely, but Lomachenko could face the winner of that matchup, if it fits within his timeline. IBF champion Gervonta Davis has a fight scheduled on May 20 with undefeated No.1 contender, Liam Walsh.
This means Davis will also be preoccupied in the immediate future, but with Davis taking to Instagram to call out Adrien Broner and getting into dust ups with Tevin Farmer recently, he may have his schedule full of potential fights that leave no room for a clash with the Ukrainian this year.
The WBA champion Corrales is a strong possibility for Lomachenko. Corrales had an opportunity to face Lomachenko on the MGM National Harbor card, but ultimately decided to rematch Takashi Uchiyama, who held the title for six years until Corrales dethroned him by second-round knockout.
In the rematch, Corrales outpointed Uchiyama. With no foreseeable opponents for Corrales, this could be a perfect candidate for Lomachenko and his goal of unifying the Super Featherweight titles. If a fight cannot be made with any other titleholders at Super Featherweight, Lomachenko vowed he would move up to Lightweight and challenge the champions there.
This is where potential opponents for Lomachenko get interesting. Lomachenko mentioned WBO Lightweight champion, Terry Flanagan by name in the post fight interview.
“If the titleholders at 130 refuse to fight me, I’m going to move up to 135 pounds. I’d like to fight Terry Flanagan in England.”
Flanagan won a unanimous decision over Petr Petrov hours before on Saturday, while his promoter Frank Warren said that he was considering both Lomachenko and WBA Lightweight champion, Jorge Linares as potential opponents for Flanagan’s next fight.
Since the preferred matchup with Linares is in doubt (as he’s in talks with another potential opponent for Lomachenko, WBC Lightweight champion Mikey Garcia), Flanagan looks like another strong possibility.
A fight with Flanagan in England could be lucrative and delay the oversized Flanagan’s plans move to 140 pounds.
Even though Lomachenko mentioned three-time champion, Mikey Garcia by name as a potential opponent in the post-fight interview, it’s a risky and unlikely possibility, though it would garner the most interest and the most money.
As mentioned earlier, a Lightweight unification between Linares and Garcia is being ironed out, but that doesn’t mean a fight with Lomachenko is totally out of the question.
A potential bout between the two has been circulating through social media and has picked up some major buzz. If none of the potential fights work out with Lomachenko’s strongest possibilities in Corrales and Flanagan, he can always avenge that blemish on his record against Orlando Salido.
It seems that Arum is eager to make it happen and even though it seems like Lomachenko is on to bigger and better things, he would definitely like to show Salido what he’s learned since their first meeting.
“Back in the day, it was like a third grader fighting a 12th grader. Right now, I have graduated from the university and I want to invite him to my school,” said Lomachenko of Salido.
Who would you like to see Lomachenko face next?
