Bob Arum reveals looming Davis-Lomachenko fight negotiation

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Founder and CEO of Top Rank promotions Bob Arum bared that negotiations for a possible unification showdown between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko will kick off this week.

Arum, who has been handling Lomachenko after giving him a break at Top Rank, added that a meeting between the two camps could take place in the later days of this week.

He said that Davis’ camp is still in Las Vegas and that would give them the perfect time to open up fight talks as Top Rank will also be in town because of a scheduled Friday fight night.

“Very good, powerful kid, good puncher, and he wasn’t fighting a tomato can. We’re up for that fight. Lomachenko’s up for that,” said Arum in an interview with BoxingScene.

Davis is coming off another knockout win last June 16, 2024, after taking down the resilient Frank Martin in eight rounds.

In the seventh round, Davis began to control the tempo of the fight after taking advantage of Martin slowing down his pace.

After several body shots that landed at will, Davis wrapped up the seventh round with a sneaky uppercut to enter the eighth with the much-needed confidence.

Davis then saved his best for last and iced the match in the eighth round after hitting Martin with a well-timed left hook to stay as the king of the lightweight division.

Meanwhile, Lomachenko is also fresh from a convincing win last May after stopping George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round of their IBF title clash.

Lomachenko turned on the jets in the 10th round and cornered Kambosos Jr. twice, inflicting more damage after hitting him with a barrage of jabs in the back-to-back sequences.

It all ended in the 11th round when Lomachenko scored a brutal knockdown courtesy of a devastating left hook body shot with only 31 seconds remaining.

Kambosos Jr. beat the initial 10 counts of the match referee but Lomachenko wrapped up his technical knockout victory with a flurry of body punches that forced the official to end the match in the 12th second of the 11th.

“Everything’s up in the air. There’s a lot of possibilities. And possibilities are good, because they keep everyone busy. When we sit down, we will see if it’s feasible, but Lomachenko would like to do that fight,” added Arum.