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If you watched WBO Featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (4-1-0, 2 KOs) for the first time in the opening televised bout on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao undercard, you’re probably seriously impressed.
If you’re a fan of “Loma” and have been for a few years now, then your man crush has probably heightened after his dominant performance over WBO No. 1 contender Gamalier Rodriguez (25-3-3, 17 KOs).
Even though nobody gave Rodriguez much of a chance against Lomachenko, who is the most decorated amateur boxer ever having won two Olympic gold medals before turning professional and winning a world title in just his third fight, you can’t take away from the extremely impressive showcase of talent and potential that the Ukrainian displayed.
After a few rounds of feeling-out Rodriguez and getting his timing down, Lomachenko took the fight over completely, landing punches at will–doubling, tripling and quadrupling up combinations, while using awesome footwork to keep Rodriguez square and hittable throughout the fight.
A professional and relentless body attack was mixed into the onslaught by Lomachenko, as well as some finely timed low blows to Rodriguez, who made it a point to intentionally land low on Lomachenko all night in an attempt to make him uncomfortable, similar to the way Orlando Salido did during his win over Lomachenko in their fight back in March 2014.
It was in the ninth round that Lomachenko finally landed his finishing blow, when he snuck a right cross inside on Rodriguez, who was beaten, frustrated and decided to take a surrendering knee from which he would never get up from.
Looking forward, there are a lot of options for Lomachenko in a Featherweight division that is gradually becoming one of the most competitive and exciting divisions in boxing.
The clear and obvious question will be if his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank will be interested in throwing Lomachenko in with the absolute best-of-the-best of the division with only five professional fights under his belt, or if he’ll choose to move him along more gradually.
So let’s take a look at some potential opponents for Vasyl Lomachenko, and how fast he could potentially rise up on many pound-for-pound lists over the next couple of years.
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Photo by Naoki Fukuda
1. Look to Golden Boy Promotions
Fortunately for Vasyl Lomachenko, current political barriers in the sport of boxing do not block him from possible fights with Oscar De La Hoya’s stable of fighters at Golden Boy Promotions.
Golden Boy currently has a short list of legitimate contenders in the Featherweight division who are all considered to be top 15 fighters and who could make for interesting and exciting matchups with Lomachenko.
Ronny Rios (24-1-0, 10 KOs) was a fighter who many had high hopes for before he was knocked out by Robinson Castellanos back in their October 2014 fight.
He’s since bounced back with a clear and unanimous 10-round decision victory over Sergio Frias back on March 20, 2015, a fight that was televised on Fox Sports 1.
A fight with Rios at this point would not be a step forward for Lomachenko, since Rios is arguably on the same level as Gamalier Rodriguez at this time.
Castellanos (21-10-0, 13 KOs) doesn’t carry the prettiest record in boxing, but has won thirteen of his last fourteen fights, including the impressive win over Rios.
Castellanos might be somewhat of a stretch option for Lomachenko at this point, considering he’s currently ranked No. 1 to Gary Russell Jr.’s WBC title and would be a solid and winnable option for Russell’s first defense.
But if advisor Al Haymon decides to avoid the mandatory defense against Castellanos in order to put Russell in with one of the names from the Haymon stable, then Castellanos wouldn’t be a bad option for Lomachenko’s next defense.
Jayson Velez (22-0-1, 16 KOs) got his first shot at a world title back in November 2014 against current IBF world title holder Evgeny Gradovich.
It was a hard fought and controversial decision draw, a fight that many viewers thought should have been awarded to the champion Gradovich who was more aggressive from round-to-round.
Velez did show amazing grit in the fight though, which was televised as part of the undercard for Terence Crawford vs. Ray Beltran on HBO Championship Boxing.
It’s hard to believe that anybody would complain about a matchup between Lomachenko and Velez.
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2. The Winner of Evgeny Gradovich vs. Lee Selby
On May 30, 2015, current IBF title holder Evgeny Gradovich (19-0-1, 9 KOs) will make a defense against No. 1 contender Lee Selby (20-1-0, 8 KOs) as part of the undercard for Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin from the O2 Arena in London, England.
Gradovich will be in hostile territory, since Selby is a UK native who many across the pond have dubbed “The Welsh Floyd Mayweather.”
A win for Gradovich, who is nicknamed “The Mexican Russian,” for his straight-forward brawling style, would set him up as a more realistic option for Vasyl Lomachenko since they both fight under the Top Rank banner.
Boxing fans love a unification bout, and this one would make for a very sexy styles matchup pitting the aggressive volume puncher Gradovich against the highly skilled technical fighter in Lomachenko.
This fight would certainly be an HBO Championship Boxing headlining fight, and would be a step back up in competition for Lomachenko, similar to the level of his fight with Gary Russell Jr.
It’s easy to assume that of all the makeable fights for Lomachenko right now, Gradovich would be the second most desired among boxing fans.
Selby would also make for an interesting matchup with Lomachenko, since both fighters are very technically sound.
The only problem is if Selby wins, he’ll likely take an optional first defense in his home country the way UK fighters often do.
It’s not likely Selby would choose to fight someone as highly skilled as Lomachenko right away, but instead would choose to make a defense against someone like Jayson Velez, Eric Hunter, or even fellow UK fighter Josh Warrington.
Edit by Lorin Elise
3. Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Nicholas Walters: The Best of the Featherweights
If you were to go ahead and create a list of the top five most desirable fights in the sport of boxing today, Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Nicholas Walters (25-0-0, 21 KOs) would probably be on it.
They’re arguably the two best fighters in the 126-pound division, and both could one day find themselves on top 10 pound-for-pound lists.
It’s a beautiful styles fight, Lomachenko whose technical skills and defense could one day rival the best fighters in the world, against Walters, a relentless pressure attacker who they call the “Axe Man” because of the way he can chop an opponent into pieces with his devastating power.
Walters made his name well-known with an extremely impressive 2014 campaign, first by knocking out Vic Darchinyian in May, then by stopping the 2012 Fighter of the Year Nonito Donaire in their October fight.
Walters dominated Donaire to a point that made the “Filipino Flash” look foolish, knocking him down once in Round 3 then again in Round 6, from which Donaire would not continue.
It was an eye-opening performance on a televised undercard from the packed StubHub Center, which was filled with Mexican and Mexican-American fight fans who were there to watch their adopted son, Gennady Golovkin.
Since then, Top Rank looked to match Walters up with Rodriguez, who Lomachenko just beat, but Walters came down with the flu and wasn’t able to fight.
He’s scheduled to make a defense of his WBA Featherweight title on June 13 against an opponent to be announced, the fight will take place at Madison Square Garden.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Nicholas Walters does however bring back the question, does Bob Arum want to put two of the best fighters in his stable in the ring together at this point?
It’s a big fight, but one that could be monstrous if it has the appropriate time to build over years, while these fighters continue to bolster their resumes.
I think it’s safe to say that boxing fans are eager to see it sooner than later, with Lomachenko’s extensive amateur background you could argue he’s ready.
So let’s see it now, let’s see it later, and let’s see it as many times as possible, because Lomachenko vs. Walters has the make up to become the next great rivalry, one that could mirror Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez.
Who would you like to see Vasyl Lomachenko fight next? Please feel free to discuss in our comments section provided below.
Header photo by Esther Lin
