Top Rank boss Bob Arum expects a huge unification clash between Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters to be given the go-ahead in the coming year.
Arum, who has been in the public eye recently selling the Pacquiao v Algieri contest on November 22, spoke about a possible future bout between WBO featherweight title holder Lomachenko and WBA holder Walters, but says the fight isn’t on the agenda until the Macau event is over.
“For me, I would think Walters, who did extraordinarily well beating (Nonito) Donaire, and I have always thought Lomachenko is a special talent and one of the greatest fighters around so it would be silly if they didn’t fight sometime next year,” said Arum.
Lomachenko vs Walters
“Lomachenko is fighting only his fourth professional fight and he’s fighting Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo of Thiland, with 51 wins and one defeat. He lost eight years ago to Chris John and of his 51 victories, 33 of them have been by knockout – so Lomachenko has his work cut out for him, so believe me.
“This fight on November 22 is hardly a gimme. Piriyapinyo deserves his No. 1 ranking so that should be a very good fight. So if Lomachenko is successful, I would anticipate a fight with Walters sometime next year,” he added.
Ex-amateur standout Lomachenko, 26, makes the first defence of the world title he won in just his third professional fight against Gary Russell Jr in June, having surprisingly lost to Orlando Salido in his first attempt.
Salido moved up to super-featherweight which instantly ruled out a redemption effort for the talented Ukrainian, although a rematch could be on the cards if Lomachenko can clean up the division at 126lbs.
