Bob Arum isn’t so sure he would be as amenable as he is today to backing the careers of fighters from Eastern Europe if it weren’t for Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The Hall of Fame promoter and founder of Top Rank said his experience working with the three-division titilist and two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine largely convinced him of the merits of working with fighters from the former Soviet Union.
In addition to Lomachenko, Top Rank currently promotes unified Russian light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, who holds the WBO, WBC and IBF titles.
“Well, I think pretty well everything got colored by my experiences with Lomachenko,” Arum said of his company’s interest in Eastern European fighters in an interview with BBC 5 Live Boxing ahead of a 175-pound showdown between Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde in London. “I mean you couldn’t get a more cooperative, professional fighter than Vasiliy Lomachenko. So again, when Eastern Europeans knock, now the door was open because of the great experience we had with Lomachenko.
“Again, it’s not because of my great foresight, because otherwise it would have been difficult. It’s because Lomachenko turned out to be such a magnificent guy to promote.”
Top Rank signed Lomachenko to a promotional deal in 2013 on the heels of winning his second Olympic gold medal. The 34-year-old briefly put his boxing career on hold earlier last year in response to the Russian invasion of his homeland. Lomachenko joined his country’s territorial defense army but later received permission to return to the ring. His last fight was a closer-than-expected points win over Jamaine Ortiz at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Top Rank’s roster of Eastern European fighters may have thinned in recent years, but if the designation is expanded to include countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union, like Kazakhstan, middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly would be another example. Top Rank also promoted former light heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Lomachenko’s friend, for many years. Gvozdyk shortly retired after his last fight, a knockout loss to Beterbiev in 2019.
Lomachenko is reportedly on track to face undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney in May on ESPN Pay-Per-View.