VASYL LOMACHENKO’S PROMOTER Bob Arum says the Ukrainian’s impending scrap with England’s Luke Campbell will likely take place in the UK, and most probably at London’s O2 Arena.
The two Olympic gold medalists are due to square off for the vacant WBC World lightweight title as well as Lomachenko’s WBA and WBO belts, but it has been over a month since the WBC mandated the fight neither an official date nor venue have yet to be confirmed.
Speaking to IFL TV, Hall-of-Fame promoter Arum revealed that the sanctioning body have set a deadline of next Friday for him and Campbell’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, to seal the deal, and claimed the hold-up is on ‘Cool Hand Luke”s side, not on that of ‘Loma’.
“I wish I could [confirm the fight], but Eddie has a deal in place with us for Lomachenko; he’s trying to finalise a deal with Campbell,” Arum said.
The WBC gave it until next Friday. No more past next Friday. Eddie wants it in the UK, I want it in the UK. I believe Eddie has reserved the O2 Arena.
“Loma really is looking forward to fighting in England. He attended a fight recently with [Oleksandr] Usyk, his best friend, who fought [Tony] Bellew, and the fans really loved Loma.
“He really wants to come back and fight in the UK, that’s no baloney. He really said to me, ‘Bob, if possible, I want to fight in London’. It will, it will [happen in the UK]. He [Hearn] just has to finalise with Campbell and then we will announce.”
In an unusual move, WBA and WBO champion Lomachenko has been permitted to fight for another organisation’s unmanned belt — the WBC’s — whereas typically he would be required to wait for a fellow champion to be crowned by that same organisation before partaking in a unification bout.
Lomachenko, regarded by many as the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet, has instead been cleared to face fellow WBC title pursuer Campbell — the current mandatory challenger for the green belt — in a clash of 2012 Olympic gold medallists. Campbell beat Ireland’s John Joe Nevin in the London final, while Lomachenko went on to also claim gold at Rio 2016.
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