You can scratch off a potential Gervonta Davis-Vasiliy Lomachenko fight for the upcoming schedule. What had been rumored for a month or two, was extinguished this past Friday after I spoke to Egis Klimas, who has managed Lomachenko throughout his professional career.
We spoke on several different issues relating to his world-class stable of boxers (which includes undisputed heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and Janibel Alimkhanuly -- and more on him later), and I did ask him about the progress of the above-mentioned fight.
And the straight shooting Klimas told me: "Loma is not in the mood right now, he doesn't have the motivation at the moment. He's taking off, he wants to spend more time with the family. He doesn't want to do anything till the end of the year. So he's definitely not coming to the ring till the end of the year."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Klimas made it clear later on, that their dealings with the other side were cordial and productive. Unlike most fight negotiations, this wasn't really about the money or purse split.
"With Loma, just money is not what motivates him," the manager insisted. "He doesn't take anything just because of money. You can offer him millions, tens of millions of dollars -- if he doesn't have motivation, he's not ready to prepare for the fight."
There were indications before and after his last bout versus George Kambosos that Lomachenko had begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of his boxing career. One that spanned nearly 400 fights (producing two Olympic gold medals) and a professional career that began over a decade ago.
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If you look at his recent record he has fought once-a-year since 2022. Certainly world events in his home country of Ukraine have played a role in this decision. But it's obvious that at age 36, Lomachenko now has one foot out the door.
But Klimas made it clear, ''(Lomachenko) is not retired." So maybe this bout is just being tabled for 2025.
There has been a great debate over social media regarding Lomachenko's decision. Some have accused him of 'ducking' Davis, who is currently the WBA lightweight titlist. After all, he is the one who essentially pulled himself out of the running for a November bout. On the flip side, others will point out that it's been on record that Tank's handlers have been shielding him from this fight since the time he beat Jose Pedraza back in 2017 for his first world title (IBF junior lightweight).
Boxing is a game of timing. In other words, consummating fights when it's the most optimum for your client to face a certain opponent. Sometimes you pull the trigger as quickly as possible. Then there are situations where you wait as long as possible.
In this case, this bout was too soon for one guy. And then probably too late for the other.
JANIBEK
So after not being able to make the weigh-in for his bout versus Andrei Mikhailovich, it was assumed that Alimkhanuly, would be moving up to super middleweight. Not so fast.
"The decision has been made, 100-percent he's staying at middleweight," Klimas told SNAC.com. "He went and saw a physician, they looked at him. They took some blood tests -- we should get the results on Monday."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
As of now, there has been no official ruling by the WBO and IBF on the status of Alimkhanuly as their middleweight titlist.
Klimas continued, "He knows a couple of mistakes he did, that's why he couldn't do this fight. But he's staying at middleweight, and going forward."
FINAL FLURRIES
It was a big weekend for trainer, Rudy Hernandez. His protégé Junto Nakatani's had a first round KO of Vicent Astrolabio, and he added another champion to his stable. Anthony Olascuaga captured the the vacant WBO flyweight title as he knocked out Riku Kano in four in Tokyo, Japan...Will Ashton Sylve ever be the same after that devastating knockout he suffered on Saturday night?....The Jake Paul express keeps rolling along... I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
