By Norm Frauenheim-
The evolution of boxing’s surprising new generation – fighters from the old Soviet Union – continues Saturday with Vasyl Lomachenko, who many believe will be the best of them, if not one of the best ever.
In the lead-up to the Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters bout at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, his promoter, Bob Arum, compares the Ukrainian to Muhammad Ali.
Being called the next anything can create some problematic expectations. To wit: There’s never been another John Wooden or Jack Nicklaus and the NBA is still looking for the next Michael Jordan.
But, it’s fair to argue, that there’s never been anyone in any sport quite like Ali. In the arena of history’s icons, Ali is the greatest ever. On the boxing canvas, he’s Michelangelo. Whether there’s a Sistine Chapel in Lomachenko’s creative hands is anybody’s guess. After all, the two-time Olympic gold medalist has only seven pro bouts (6-1, 4 KOs).
But Arum is absolutely right about one thing: Lomachenko is fascinating to watch. Arum has seen them all. First of all and above all, Ali.
The promoter, who turns 85 on Dec. 8, celebrates his 2,000th card Saturday night. That amounts to boxing every night for nearly five-and-half years. Arum thought he had seen all the angles until he saw Lomachenko, who has been creating some new dimensions in boxing’;s traditional geometry
He possesses a bewildering array of punching angles augmented by hand speed and clever footwork. Ali?
We’ll only know more about that one in the face of further adversity, perhaps in an HBO-televised bout (10:35 p.m. ET/PT) against a dangerous Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) who has frightening power.
Lomachenko has already encountered some of that in a loss to a stubborn and brawling Orlando Salido. Salido might have taught him a career-full of lessons during one long night in March 2014. Lomachenko is no dummy. The guess here is that he will be cautious early and creative late for a stoppage in the final couple of rounds over a tiring Walters.
A successful defense of his WBO junior-lightweight belt might propel him to an immediate jump in class, perhaps to a 2017 bout at 140 pounds against Manny Pacquaio. I would also like to see a bout with Mikey Garcia, although that one could be difficult to put together because of Garcia’s split with Top Rank.
Nevertheless, Lomachenko against the tactically skilled and always-poised Garcia would loom as an intriguing match-up and another test of what Arum foresees for the Ukrainian.
For now, Lomachenko ranks No. 3 on this list of fighters from the old Soviet bloc making an impact in the U.S. Middleweight Gennady Golovkin is still no. 1. Light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev is No. 2, despite his controversial loss to Andre Ward last Saturday.
If fans angry at Ward’s one-point victory on each of the judges’ card had a vote, Kovalev might in fact be No. 1. Despite the noisy controversy, however, it still goes down as a loss for Kovalev, who seemed to let the clever Ward off the hook after the Russian scored a second-round knockdown.
For Lomachenko, that’s an opportunity to become No. 2 on what might just be an early list of all that Arum thinks he’ll achieve.
