Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
After an impressive victory over Jamaica’s Nicholas Walters (26-1-1, 21 KOs), Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) is now aiming for boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound spot.
Saturday night at the Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Lomachenko put on a spectacular showcase of his technical skills–simply outclassing and outworking Walters.
After seven rounds of boxing, Walters made the decision not to continue.
Promoter Bob Arum, overseeing his 2000th event after 50 years in boxing was impressed.
“We watched a modern master, a magician in action tonight. It surprised me he quit, but Walters was going to get knocked out. Lomachenko had worked the kid out and was going to stop him in the next round,” said Arum (via The Telegraph).
Now that Lomachenko has proven himself yet again, what’s next for “Hi-Tech?”
Keep reading to find a list of potential matchups for the WBO Super Featherweight world champion, Vasyl Lomachenko.
Francisco Vargas
Photo by Hogan Photos
After Saturday night’s convincing win– in a post-fight interview, Vasyl Lomachenko called out Francisco Vargas, the reigning WBC Super Featherweight champ.
Vargas is unbeaten at 23-0-2, 17 KOs and was last seen in an all-out war with Orlando Salido that ended in a draw.
Lomachenko-Vargas would make a very interesting matchup and likely be a very entertaining and competitive fight.
With talk of this fight looming already, there is also speculation that it isn’t likely to happen.
Francisco Vargas is a Golden Boy Promotions fighter and many doubt that Oscar De La Hoya would be willing to risk putting up his fighter against the extremely talented Ukrainian.
But let’s keep our fingers crossed because this would be a real treat for boxing fans.
Manny Pacquiao
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Who wouldn’t love to see a battle between the veteran Manny Pacquiao and the young and hungry Vasyl Lomachenko?
Bob Arum isn’t opposed to making this fight happen, he has already mentioned the possibility of a Lomachenko-Pacquiao super fight for 2017.
This would make a very interesting stylistic matchup. Pacquiao has fought the best of the best and is one of the most experienced fighters still in the game right now–this would definitely be a new test for Lomachenko.
Orlando Salido
Photo by Naoki Fukada
Vasyl Lomachenko’s one and only loss came against Orlando Salido in just his second pro fight. Salido fights are typically always exciting and another clash between these two would undoubtedly be a crowd pleaser.
I am sure this is on the top of the list of potential matchups for Bob Arum to make happen. This would give Lomachenko the opportunity to redeem himself and prove to any naysayers that are still left, that the hype is real.
The list of future potential matchups could go on and on. Other fighter names that are being thrown out there include Terence Crawford, a unification bout with Jason Sosa, Jose Pedraza (if he is able to get by Gervonta Davis), Jezreel Corrales (if he can defeated Takashi Uchiyama in a December 31 rematch), Yuriorkis Gamboa, Oscar Valdez, and even Guillermo Rigondeaux.
This weight class and the surrounding weight divisions are stacked with possible matchups. Yet, after Lomachenko picked apart Nicholas Walters with ease, the fear is that he may have unintentionally put himself in the category of Rigondeaux and Gennady Golovkin in which no one is too eager to get in the ring with them.
Right now, Lomachenko seems unstoppable. I for one, am excited to see what fights Bob Arum can make happen for “Hi-Tech” in 2017.
