After Jamaica’s Nicholas Walters knocked out featherweight titleholder Nonito Donaire in the sixth round of an outstanding performance in October, the immediate discussion turned to a possible unification fight with Vasyl Lomachenko, the gifted former two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist many consider the best amateur in boxing history.
Both fighters are promoted by Top Rank and the fight is a natural. Top Rank’s Bob Arum wants to make the match, HBO can’t wait to put it on and both fighter camps are open to it.
But first Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO), who won a world title in his third professional fight in June with a masterpiece against then-unbeaten Gary Russell Jr., has his own business to handle. He faces mandatory challenger Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (52-1, 33 KOs) of Thailand on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) on the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri undercard at the Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena in Macau, China.
"When I signed with Top Rank they told me I would fight on the biggest events,” Lomachenko said through a translator. “Here we are, on a big Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view card in Macau. This is really a big, exciting show. As far as my opponent goes, I did not get a chance to see much of his fights. My trainers take care of that. He has a big record and I am taking him as a serious challenger. I'm 100 percent prepared.”
Despite the disparity in records, Lomachenko is the clear favorite against Piriyapinyo, who lost his only other title bout, a decision to then-titleholder Chris John in Indonesia in November 2012. Should Lomachenko prevail, Arum said he will make the fight with Walters, but not immediately.
Thankfully, Arum is not planning a slow marinade, which he tried to do for a hot fight between featherweight titleholders Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa a few years ago, only to watch it disintegrate when Lopez got knocked out twice.
Lomachenko-Walters really is not quite ready to be made yet, but the wait won’t be long if Arum is true to his word.
“By the early summer I want to make that fight,” Arum told ESPN.com from Macau this week. “Both sides want it. That’s what they’ve communicated to me. Egis [Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager] has told me one more fight after this one and then early summer they’re ready to go. The Walters camp is saying the same thing.”
So the idea is a doubleheader in early 2015 and then, if they both win, the showdown after that.
“Maybe they’ll fight on a doubleheader and then go at each other,” Arum said. “I would be just as excited to see that fight as I would be to see Pacquiao-[Floyd] Mayweather. I can’t wait to see Walters fight Lomachenko. It’s really an interesting fight. I know the general public won’t share that enthusiasm but the boxing people and the true boxing fans will.”
Arum said he envisions the fight perhaps taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, which is near a large Ukrainian population. There is also a sizable Jamaican community in New York.
“It’s a tough fight but they both want it and so do I and so does HBO,” Arum said.
Lomachenko did not want to talk about a fight with Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) with another opponent in front of him on Saturday. That is understandable. But given that he has faced top opposition in his brief pro career -- he is so ambitious that he wanted a world title fight in his pro debut but settled for a fight [a loss] before winning one in his third -- it’s hard to imagine Lomachenko not accepting a fight with Walters.
“I trained hard for this fight. I am focused. What is next? I do not know yet,” Lomachenko said. “I am only concerned for my fight this weekend.”