Arum, who promotes Lomachengko, Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao, has been looking for someone who can eventually replace Pacquiao as his top revenue generator.
The Hall of Fame promoter is now torn between Lomachengko and Crawford for his choice of the post that will soon be vacated by Pacquiao as he prepares to wind down his long-running boxing career.
Lomachengko is relatively new as a pro but his amateur career is enviable, having won 396 amateur fights with just one loss which he later avenged twice.
The 29-year-old Ukrainian fighter has won two gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as Featherweight champion and in the 2012 London Olympics as Lightweight champion. He also won three gold medals in the World Championship as well as a silver medal in the European Championship.
While Lomachengko has only nine pro fights to his credit after turning pro in 2013, he has become popular among boxing fans for his skill in the sport which can be attributed to his long-running amateur experience. Aside from his skill, Lomachengko is known for his speed and power.
Arum made several attempts to arrange a fight between Crawford and Pacquiao but he seems unsure about Crawford’s ability to attract the discriminating pay-per-view (PPV) buyers. He is also aware that Lomachengko is more entertaining to watch in the ring than Crawford.
“I’ve been telling everybody how great this guy is. You’ve been reading how great this guy is,” Arum said. “Muhammad Ali, the greatest of all time. This Vasyl Lomachenko (is) the greatest of our time. He really is. I mean you’re going to see performances from this guy that you’re not going to believe down the road. He’ll fight anybody.
It appears that Lomachengko is experiencing difficulty in attracting worthy opponents probably because of his superior skill, speed and awesome power.
“It’s going to cost us a lot of money to get people in the ring with him. But he is going to beat anybody around,” Arum added. Read more:
Orlando Salido, who gave Lomachengko his first career loss has not shown much interest in a possible rematch knowing perhaps that he can’t beat the Ukrainian the second time around. This is the reason why Arum is willing to give extra pay for anyone who has the right credential to face Lomachengko for his 10th pro fight.
Still, Arum isn’t convinced that now is the right time for either Crawford or Lomachengko to face Pacquiao probably because both of them lack international exposure which is necessary to generate more revenues for the fight.
Comparing their skill and fighting styles, it seems Lomachengko has the edge in succeeding Pacquiao as Top Rank’s next cash cow mainly because of the similarity of his fighting style with Pacquiao which the fans love to watch.
