The discussion over who Vasiliy Lomachenko should fight next after his revival knockout of former lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. is rich.
For veteran trainer Teddy Atlas, it should also be short.
Atlas said on Monday’s episode of “Deep Waters” on ProBox TV that the timing is right now for new IBF lightweight champion Lomachenko, 36, to seek out a unification date against WBA champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis by year’s end.
While Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) has a Prime Video pay-per-view title defense to make on June 15 in Las Vegas against unbeaten Frank Martin, “Tank” posted on X Saturday night that he intends to get to Lomachenko after his planned victory over Martin.
Of course, unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and three-division champion Emanuel Navarrete, who’s fighting for the WBO lightweight strap Saturday would likely also crave that bout.
Like Stevenson, Navarrete is promoted by Lomachenko promoter Top Rank.
But Atlas urged the parties to rush, likening Davis-Lomachenko to Canelo Alvarez versus David Benavidez: “If this fight is going to happen, it has to happen soon. (For) Lomachenko, the clock is ticking.”
Atlas said his fascination with the matchup is how “The Matrix” Lomachenko can maneuver and dissect Davis, comparing his task observing “a guy go in to disarm a bomb.
“He has to take the red wire out and the green wire out without touching the blue wire – or it’s going to blow everything up,” Atlas said. “That is what [Lomachenko] has done in the past: he’s disarmed really terrific punchers, champions of years ago. But now he’s got to do it against a guy with nitroglycerine in his gloves, a pound-for-pound fighter who can do it all.”
Fellow “Deep Waters” analyst Paulie Malignaggi argued Lomachenko’s not obligated now that he’s older to fight a foe in Premier Boxing Champions’ Davis.
Malignaggi claimed Davis “ducked him years ago … Lomachenko has been brought up to ‘Tank’ since he’s been 130 pounds and he’s never even acknowledged him. ‘Tank’ is a great fighter. He picks his opponents a little too much for my liking, but I still enjoy watching him.”
Atlas says there’s no sense in lamenting the past when the bout seems ripe now.
“I still want to see it because Lomachenko has a chance to do something that would be fun to watch: Go in and take the bomb apart,” the trainer said.
Stevenson may opt to return to the Top Rank stable following the expiration of his current deal with the promoter after his July 6 title defense simply for the sake of fighting Lomachenko.
“I like Shakur against everybody, ‘Tank’ included,” “Deep Waters” analyst Chris Algieri said. “Shakur said [fighting Lomachenko] would be the highest IQ boxing match, two boxing chess players. My concern is it wouldn’t be the most entertaining, scintillating fight. Shakur is very good at diffusing interactions.
“Lomachenko will have to close the distance and make a fight of it. You’re looking at a 36-year-old guy fighting guys at their absolute primes. It’s a tough fight for Lomachenko.”
While Malignaggi said Stevenson doesn’t deserve criticism for his attention to defense when teams in the NBA and NHL have avoided such chiding, he admits there would not be “the buzz” of Lomachenko-Davis.
And perhaps three-division champion Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) and his father-trainer, Anatoli, will decide to retire on top.
Top Rank President Todd DuBoef told BoxingScene Monday that Lomachenko will “sit at the head of the table” and select whom he prefers to fight next after these three lightweight title bouts over the next six weeks.
“If he decides to fight, [Stevenson] is the easier fight to make,” Malignaggi said.
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