Bob Arum would love to match Keyshawn Davis against Vasiliy Lomachenko if Davis defeats Edwin De Los Santos on June 7.
The 93-year-old promoter still isn’t sure, however, if Lomachenko will fight again. Arum informed The Ring that neither Lomachenko nor his manager, Egis Klimas, have told anyone affiliated with Arum’s company, Top Rank Inc., of the 37-year-old three-division champion’s plans.
“I haven’t heard from him,” Arum told The Ring. “I was supposed to hear from him in March. Now we’re in April and I haven’t heard from him. But I’ll press Egis next week and we’ll see what the story is. I’m gonna talk to Egis about it.”
Top Rank promotes Davis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC), who owns the WBO lightweight title, and Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs), the IBF’s 135-pound champ. Lomachenko is ranked No. 2 in The Ring’s top 10 in the 135-pound division, one spot above Davis.
Ukraine’s Lomachenko last fought 11 months ago. The two-time Olympic gold medalist stopped Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. (22-3, 10 KOs) in the 11th round of that May 12 bout at RAC Arena in Perth.
Lomachenko won the then-vacant IBF lightweight title that night. He still holds that belt, but the IBF will eventually require a decision from the former junior lightweight and featherweight champ.
Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs), the IBF’s No. 2 lightweight contender, and fourth-ranked Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs), of Fontana, California, are scheduled to fight for the IBF interim 135-pound crown May 10. ESPN will air Abdullaev-Muratalla as the co-feature of a telecast from Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
Davis’ first defense of the WBO belt he won two months ago from Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs) will be officially announced Friday at a press conference in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. ESPN will also televise Davis-De Los Santos as a main event from Scope Arena in downtown, Norfolk, where Davis drew a capacity crowd in excess of 10,000 for his second-round knockout of Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos (29-2, 18 KOs) on November 8.
De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs), a Dominican southpaw who resides in Reading, Pennsylvania, has not fought since his infamously dull, 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson in November 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If the favored Davis wins June 7, Lomachenko might be his most realistic option for a title unification fight should Lomachenko continues to box.
Davis and Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs), the WBC champ, are close friends. Both boxers have said they will not fight each other, no matter how much money they are offered.
Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs, 1 NC), the WBA champ, is contractually committed to an immediate rematch with WBA super featherweight champ Lamont Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs). Davis, who settled for a controversial majority draw with Roach on March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, could fight Roach again June 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, though that pay-per-view card has not been announced.
Arum was noncommittal regarding Davis-Lomachenko.
“I don’t know if Lomachenko, after all this time off,” Arum said, “would wanna go in with a fighter like Keyshawn right away.”
Lomachenko, whose home country has been at war with Russia for three years, has fought only once in the nearly two years since former undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) narrowly beat him on points in May 2023 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.