The 26 year-old lost a majority decision to the new WBN Fighter of the Year in June 2014 and hopes to land another crack at the Ukrainian master in the future.
“I’m giving him an opportunity for working his way up the rankings. God willing everything goes well, I plan on unifying these titles and I want to do it soon,” Russell explained.
“I can still make 126lbs relatively easy. I plan on moving up in weight but I definitely want to clean out this division first. There’s a lot of great fights that the fans will want to see, and we’re willing to give it to them.
“I don’t care if he loses his next 10 fights, before my career is over he’ll have to see me again. The people didn’t see the Gary Russell that they’re used to seeing.
“I don’t see my career lasting another four or five years. But before I’m done – I’m going to clean this division and Lomachenko has got to see me (before then)!”
Russell is preparing to defend his green and gold belt in a mandatory bout with Oscar Escandon in Ohio next month, whilst Lomachenko is still revelling in the success of a standout 2016.
Lomachenko took the WBN FOTY crown from Gennady Golovkin following a three-year reign by the Kazakh, beating Carl Frampton to the title by a wide margin of votes.
