Arum Denies Claims Loma Ducked Tank – ‘It’s Stuff To Do With Ukraine’
Bob Arum has defended Vasiliy Lomachenko’s decision to distance himself from Gervonta Davis.
The Ukrainian is coming off a stoppage win over George Kambosos Jr. as he picked up the vacant IBF Lightweight Title. After the win, Davis called out Loma, saying he was next. Arum was confident about making the fight for November, saying talks had begun. However, the Ukrainian’s manager, Egis Klimas, has said that Loma is not currently motivated for the fight.
Arum Reacts
This created the narrative that the 36-year-old is ducking Davis. Tank is in his prime, having stopped Frank Martin in his last fight. That took his record to 30-0, with 28 KO wins. Although that may be the case, Arum has now provided an insight into the reasons for Loma’s delay. He expects the lightweight to fight again once he fixes his other priorities.
“We’ll see him again. (Lomachenko) made that clear. He doesn’t want to fight for the rest of the year – it’s legitimate, stuff to do with Ukraine and his family. It could be ‘Tank’ as far as Lomachenko is concerned. He’s made his money and he’s saved his money,” Arum said
Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that it will happen. Loma has said he considered retiring after his loss to Devin Haney. The boxer was prevented from becoming the Undisputed Lightweight Champion, feeling he had been robbed of a decision win against Haney. That was arguably Lomachenko’s last chance of becoming undisputed at the weight class. He only continued fighting on the advice of his father, who did not want him to go out on a loss.
Bradley On Loma
Lomachenko is already a three-division champion with nothing else to prove in the sport. Davis had ducked him during the early parts of this career when Loma was at his peak. Davis will likely look elsewhere now, with a possible fight against Shakur Stevenson. Shakur holds the WBC Lightweight Title, giving Davis a big chance to unify with his WBA title. Tim Bradley, however, felt that Loma’s decision to not take the Davis fight could signal the end of his career.
“I think this is it for Loma. I don’t think Loma returns. I only say that because this is the type of guy that doesn’t duck any smoke. He fought against Lopez and Linares, and he fought against Haney. The last couple of fights that he had were really close, competitive fights. The Haney fight really put a dagger in him. He felt he won the fight.
“Many people watching felt he won the fight. That does something to a fighter, and when you have a couple of close calls like that, you say to yourself, ‘F this game. Going into a Tank fight, if he puts in a hell of a performance and doesn’t get knocked out and he wins the fight, he’s probably already thinking, ‘Tank is the younger guy. He’s using me for my legacy. I know that.’ When you’re in the game, you start to realize that you’re just a piece of meat,” Bradley stated
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