Thread: Lomachenko has a promoter who won't get him the best fights

Interesting article:

The problem with Vasyl Lomachenko - | Boxing News - boxing news, results, rankings, schedules since 1909

2015 has been a disappointing year for the great Ukrainian, writes John Dennen

WE have learned some things this weekend. But we haven’t learned anything new about Vasyl Lomachenko. Defending his WBO featherweight title from Romulo Koasicha, Lomachenko did exactly what we knew he could. He was patient, examined the man in front of him, pattered him with light shots from different angles to study his response and as the fight progressed unleashed the heavier artillery. His footwork bamboozled the Mexican, completely outmaneuvering Koasicha at times and once Lomachenko decided to finish him with body shots the Ukrainian was ruthlessly accurate.

But Lomachenko should be further on from the likes of Koasicha. It was essentially a repeat of his showcase against Gamalier Rodriguez on the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao undercard in May.

Lomachenko is a hugely impressive boxer. I’ve been fortunate enough to see him more than most – I was ringside to see him win his second World championships gold medal in Azerbaijan, his second Olympic gold in London, box against Sam Maxwell in York Hall of all places. I even got to see his pro debut at the Thomas & Mack centre, his world title defence against Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo in Macau and the Rodriguez bout at the MGM. But even my admiration for the great man has faded, slightly, since he won his world title in just three professional contests.

That Piriyapinyo fight was exciting. Despite hurting one hand Lomachenko hunted for the knockout using just his right. But Rodriguez and Koasicha, who accounted for 2015 activity, brought little extra out of him. He is too good for them.

Piriyapinyo was exciting for sure. This guy needs a proactive and serious promoter who is not up to no good like this clown must be

Top Rank has been ruining a lot of talented boxers' careers:

M Garcia
Rigondeaux
Korobov
Mekhontsev
Zewski

Now Lomachenko.

And Gvozdyk (who still doesn't have an opponent for his fight next week - compare what's been happening to him to the way likewise very talented Bivol and Beterbiev's careers have been managed so far)

Originally Posted by Freedom

Top Rank has been ruining a lot of talented boxers' careers:

M Garcia
Rigondeaux
Korobov
Mekhontsev
Zewski

Now Lomachenko.

And Gvozdyk (who still doesn't have an opponent for his fight next week - compare what's been happening to him to the way likewise very talented Bivol and Beterbiev's careers have been managed so far)

Garcia retired on his own account. Rigo is so difficult to deal with that he left Top Rank over a year ago and still hasn't got a good fight. Korobov finally got his shot against a good opponent and got knocked out badly. They essentially set him up to win a title and he lost. Not the promoter's fault. I don't know who Mekhontsev is. Maybe that is the promoter's fault lol.

Loma got a title fight against Salido within his fourth professional fight. I'm not sure how that is doing him wrong? He was also on the Mayweather/Pacquiao PPV this year. I think they are doing about right by him. His next fight should be against a name opponent.

Either way, I agree that Top Rank has had a lousy 2015. There is no doubt about it.

Loma could have had 2 names this year and steered away from both. That's what Top Rank does, they act like they want tough fights then make easy fights. Loma knows he doesn't have forever, he seems willing to take on anyone. Yet the 2 big fights both were avoided. If you've seen it 1000 times you shouldn't be confused on 1001. Look at history and blame Top Rank. It's the only reasonable thing to do

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

Loma could have had 2 names this year and steered away from both. That's what Top Rank does, they act like they want tough fights then make easy fights. Loma knows he doesn't have forever, he seems willing to take on anyone. Yet the 2 big fights both were avoided. If you've seen it 1000 times you shouldn't be confused on 1001. Look at history and blame Top Rank. It's the only reasonable thing to do

If you think that is just Top Rank, you're not seeing clearly. It's every promoter since the start of promoters.

And who are you referring to that he missed?

Originally Posted by Rantcatrat

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

Loma could have had 2 names this year and steered away from both. That's what Top Rank does, they act like they want tough fights then make easy fights. Loma knows he doesn't have forever, he seems willing to take on anyone. Yet the 2 big fights both were avoided. If you've seen it 1000 times you shouldn't be confused on 1001. Look at history and blame Top Rank. It's the only reasonable thing to do

If you think that is just Top Rank, you're not seeing clearly. It's every promoter since the start of promoters.

And who are you referring to that he missed?

Walters and Rigo.
I agree about promoters, just usually people see through the BS but for some reason you can catch Bob lying 1000 times and people are still willing to believe him. Like "Rigo wants too much money", if that's true tell us a number. Let us hear it and decide if it's too much. Wecan look at Floyd when he was with Bob he said 8 million tofight Margie, 10 million to fight Cotto. Bob said no "too much money" then after Floyd paid him 750k to get out of his contract he offered you guessed it 8 million to fight Margie. And Floyd would go on to make over 40million for fighting Cotto. So, you say it's too much Bob, then stand behind your opinion by giving us a number. But he won't because,,, I sure hope you guessed it, He's FOS.

And for them to say Walters offers nothing but instead fight 2 no hopers, GTFOOHWTS

Interesting how this thread has a kinship with this thread...http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...leave-hbo.html

Arum is to blame but that other guy grips tighter then he does.


I had high hopes for Haymon and yes its nice seeing boxing on regular tv but he's treating his fighters like they are RRSP's for his grandchildren. These people are wasting their best years waiting and watching the ubiquitous tin collecting. Everybody is thanking Al Haymon. For what? Some of these fighters sound like cult members. Whats Thurman doing? What about Walters or all the other feathers he owns? Wheres the beef Thanks for Broner v Porter but lets get on with it. Btw HTF did Broner become the WBA super champion and get a year off before he has to act on it? How is that not the same as Arum and King paying off Lee and the Ibf? At least Lee hid it from us for about 15 years but this stuff is happening right on our face.

I think historians will judge this specific era more for what fights didn't happen then the ones that did.

Interesting article and agree with most. I wonder and get the feeling that maybe so much was fast tracked in just getting a trinket around his waist without much big picture vision by Arum. Style wise Loma is superb but again and as with all amateur silver spoons turning professional, 6 fights is 6 fights. The last few have unfolded exactly as scripted and fully expected before the bell sounded. I like the build and accumulation of shots. He has great feet but I think he may be trying to be to much of a flawless ballerina, just touching guys to go rounds or give a show. A guy can run into problems growing bored and complacent once the level is increased and for as skilled as he is that's sort of how I saw it Saturday. The cameras were louder than the crowd for long spans, that was just odd.

Lomachenko got it written into his first contract that his second fight would be for a title. it didn't go too well though, did it? He's still only had a few fights and you can't blame Top Rank for doing what every promoter ever does with a novice pro.

Here's how things went between Top Rank and Rigondeaux:

According to Arum, the fight fell through because of Rigondeaux's longtime promoter, Miami-based Caribe Promotions. He says Caribe was asking for a very unrealistic sum of money to make the Lomachenko fight happen.
"The poor guy. I'm one of the few guys who likes Rigondeaux, but he has these guys with him - the Caribe guys - who are not professionals in boxing, who have unbelievable expectations," Arum said.
"Like, they said 'we can get millions of dollars for the [Lomachenko] fight.' And I said 'from where?' And he says 'Cuba.' I said 'what are you f***ing crazy? There is still an embargo.'"
Win or lose, a fight with Lomachenko would have catapulted Rigondeaux back in the spotlight, says Arum.
"The point is, if he fights Lomachenko and he loses the fight - he would still be back [in the mix]. He's not going to lose the fight like one-sided or whatever - it's going to be a real good fight. The kid wants the fight. He called me up and in broken English said ' I want fight Lomachenko.' He's a nice guy," Arum said.
Arum's relationship with Rigondeaux ended after Top Rank was unable to secure television dates for the Cuban boxer. After a lackluster victory over Joseph Agbeko in an HBO televised main event in December of 2013, the network refused to purchase any of Rigondeaux's future fights.
"If he had some people who could really talk to him [about his style]. These Cuban guys....in the amateurs they would win the first two rounds, then coast and win the third round close, and then in the fourth they ran away - they didn't give a sh*t because they already had the fight won. And then they fight as professionals in the same way," Arum said.
"I remember when we had a show the Atlantic City. We Kirkland and Tapia and then we had Rigondeaux and Agbeko, who went on after Tapia. By the time the Rigondeaux fight was over, there was a 100 people left [in the venue]. Rigondeaux wouldn't take any chances."


Arum: Rigondeaux Wants Lomachenko, Caribe To Blame - Boxing News


You have a guy that TV doesn't want to show and who has a promoter who is bullshitting that he can get a purse of millions from Cuba. How are you supposed to do business with that setup?

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

Originally Posted by Rantcatrat

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

Loma could have had 2 names this year and steered away from both. That's what Top Rank does, they act like they want tough fights then make easy fights. Loma knows he doesn't have forever, he seems willing to take on anyone. Yet the 2 big fights both were avoided. If you've seen it 1000 times you shouldn't be confused on 1001. Look at history and blame Top Rank. It's the only reasonable thing to do

If you think that is just Top Rank, you're not seeing clearly. It's every promoter since the start of promoters.

And who are you referring to that he missed?

Walters and Rigo.
I agree about promoters, just usually people see through the BS but for some reason you can catch Bob lying 1000 times and people are still willing to believe him. Like "Rigo wants too much money", if that's true tell us a number. Let us hear it and decide if it's too much. Wecan look at Floyd when he was with Bob he said 8 million tofight Margie, 10 million to fight Cotto. Bob said no "too much money" then after Floyd paid him 750k to get out of his contract he offered you guessed it 8 million to fight Margie. And Floyd would go on to make over 40million for fighting Cotto. So, you say it's too much Bob, then stand behind your opinion by giving us a number. But he won't because,,, I sure hope you guessed it, He's FOS.

And for them to say Walters offers nothing but instead fight 2 no hopers, GTFOOHWTS

First, Walters is at 130, Rigo is at 122, and Loma is at 126.

My understanding is that Walters' camp didn't want to face Loma yet, and that he was moving up in weight. It actually looked to me without knowing more that Walters might have been avoiding Loma.

My understanding with respect to Rigo is that he didn't want to leave 122, which he shouldn't have to in my opinion. Rigo's promoters, Caribe Promotions, are also notoriously hard to deal with. Its not just Bob Arum, Haymon also couldn't deal with them. If that is the case, it lends more argument to the fact that they were pricing Rigo high.

So, with that said who has Top Rank failed to secure for Loma as a fight?

I also find it funny that as soon as Selby was discussed as an opponent, he went across the street to PBC. Looked pretty duckilicious to me.

Loma fought Russel Jr in his 3rd fight. In his 3 fights since his opponents had a combined rec of 102-7-3. Thats not too shabby. Also talks he will be fighting Rigo next year. Have to remember Loma doesnt have a massive fan base so its not exactly easy to get him massive fights at this point of his career. I think his promo team have done an ok job considering the early loss

The latest is that Arum says Top Rank are doing a deal with Caribe to make the Rigondeaux fight next. Arum says they'll eventually come round and make it. After that Lomachenko is going to fight Donaire, Salido and Walters. Probably one or two keep busy fights like Saturday's in between them but that's just normal, people getting injured, promotional problems and what have you. That's not a bad first ten-twelve fights for a novice pro, is it?