Vasyl Lomachenko dominated Nicholas Walters in an absolute absurd manner last week, making the previously undefeated junior lightweight quit and leaving a permanent stain on his career because of it, but Lomachenko also showed that, at this point, he looks indestructible.
He?s not, of course. He already has a loss in his pro career, and there?s nobody in the sport of boxing that can?t be felled by a hard punch that lands in the perfect way. But a week after Lomachenko?s blowout, it?s tough to think of anybody from, say, the 126-pound weight class to 135 pounds that wouldn?t have major problems fighting Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs).
Nonetheless, Lomachenko will fight again, and here are a few candidates that could be in the mix to face him, ranked in order of likelihood.
Orlando Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs): In a crafty, foul-filled match, Salido, who came into the match overweight, managed to edge Lomachenko in just his second pro fight. Most boxing observers believe Lomachenko would get his revenge in a rematch ? and probably relatively easy ? but there would be plenty of good storylines if they fought again. Salido, naturally, would want big money to give Lomachenko another shot. He reportedly was offered less than $525,000 for a rematch earlier this year, and he turned it down. But there aren?t many other legitimate opponents for Lomachenko in the 130-pound weight class, and Salido?s reputation is still riding high after his Fight of the Year candidate with Francisco Vargas last June.
Francisco Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs): This was the person Lomachenko actually called out during his postfight interview, and a matchup vs. Vargas would probably establish a newly recognized junior lightweight champion. Vargas is coming off two hellacious matches: The Ring magazine Fight of the Year from 2015 when he stopped Takasha Miuri and this year?s potential Fight of the Year when he drew with Salido. Would Vargas, who?s scheduled to fight Miguel Berchelt on Jan. 28, have a chance to beat Lomachenko? At this moment, it seems doubtful. But Vargas has a good punch, and if he could find Lomachenko?s chin ? something which Walters had no chance to do ? he could make it a good match. After all, look at what he and Salido managed.
Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs): Top Rank?s Bob Arum has been talking about making this match, but it would require some weight logistics. Pacquiao is a welterweight these days, and though he said he?d have no problem making the 140-pound junior welterweight limit if he wanted to fight Terence Crawford, that?s still quite a large distance from the 130 pounds at which Lomachenko fights. Asked last week about a possible Pacquiao matchup, Lomachenko said he would like to face Pacquiao but not anytime soon because of the weight disparity.
