I’d say there are four intriguing fights if Lomachenko gets pasts Jamaine Ortiz and let’s not overlook him. But here they are:
Devin Haney
One of the obvious and intriguing fights for Lomachenko would be another superior boxer in Devin Haney who has been vocal about being ready to fight any and everyone in the division. He’s a guy who has been asking for Loma when he was on Matchroom fighting on DAZN a long time ago. Before the Teofimo (Lopez)-Lomachenko fight, Haney wanted the Lomachenko fight. So, he’s not shy about the biggest challenges in the sport.
He has earned the right to fight one of the best fighters of our era in Lomachenko. Not to mention, Lomachenko obviously wants a crack at the undisputed crown and he’s on a mission himself after losing to Teofimo with two big wins. He wants to be at the helm of the lightweight division again.
So I would say that it would be an intriguing fight because both fighters are counterpunchers and obviously very skilled. People would worry about the fight being a little too technical because both guys are thinkers. But I disagree because Devin has shown that he could be very offensive especially in the second fight with (George) Kambosos. Even though Devin Haney is the undisputed lightweight champion, he still fights with a chip on his shoulder because he’s constantly doubted. I think fighting Lomachenko, we’d see the best version of Devin Haney. Lomachenko has more tricks than anybody in the division so he’s going to be up for that fight.
Shakur Stevenson
Shakur Stevenson was recently on our show and said he would love to fight any top fighter in the division including Lomachenko. Although he said, he doesn’t think Loma has his eyes set on him. He didn’t say that Loma would be worried to fight him but he said Loma has his eyes on the undisputed crown and all of those belts. For Loma, I would think that Shakur is last on his list because Shakur is just moving into the lightweight division.
And let’s be honest, in my opinion, at (Stevenson’s) age and where he’s at right now, he’s probably the most skilled fighter in the division, even though he hasn’t fought in the division yet. I’d go out on a limb and say that.
As a fight fan, I think that Shakur Stevenson has the best shot at beating Lomachenko. That’s not saying that the other guys on the list can’t beat him or won’t beat him. I’m saying, on paper you would say Stevenson has the most technical ability to beat Lomachenko and size. He’s a lot bigger than Loma.
Gervonta Davis
The fight that hardcore fight fans have been wanting for what, four, five years now? With Gervonta “Tank” Davis. There’s never been real conversations from Mayweather Promotions when Lomachenko was mentioned in the media. The answers they always gave was (Davis) was the pay-per-view star, we’re building him up gradually.
He’s the oldest of the bunch outside of Lomachenko, he’s always been on Barak’s pound-for-pound list but at some point, the jig has to be up meaning he has to fight a top-level guy. I feel like in his defense, I feel like he’s wanted to fight the top-level guys but he’s been media trained to say that his promoters handle that and that he’s the cash cow so people have to call him out. But deep down, “Tank” is a killer in that ring and I know he wants to prove it fighting the best.
That’s why he’s been showing frustration lately with Mayweather Promotions and his team. But that fight is actually the fight that I want to see the most out of these three. It’s the most intriguing fight to me because you’re talking about the most powerful puncher in the division that can match Loma’s speed against the most skilled fighter in the division. It would be an explosive fight.
A rematch with Teofimo Lopez
Just to throw a bonus in there, I don’t want to rule out a rematch against Teofimo Lopez because Loma was very salty about that loss and would jump at a shot at avenging that loss. And Teofimo even though he had a dominant performance his last outing, he didn’t like what Loma was saying after their fight.
Loma felt like he won their fight and also brought up his shoulder injury. That’s taking away from Teo’s win so I know that Teofimo would want to put an exclamation point on that. So that’s still an intriguing fight.
I know Teofimo moved up to 140, but you never know — maybe a catchweight, maybe for no belts just bragging rights. I don’t think Lomachenko would completely rule that fight out if he had a chance to fight Teofimo again.