Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has seen great boxers come and go over the last half century.
He swears he has never seen anyone like Vasyl Lomachenko.
Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine, was signed by Arum’s Top Rank Promotions last year. He nearly left the 82-year-old promoter speechless, not an easy task, the first time they met.
“The first question he asked was what could I do for his career,” Arum related by phone, as he headed to San Antonio, where Lomachenko will fight for the second time as a pro on Saturday.
“I said, ‘well, we’ll give you a four-round fight, you know, the usual stuff.’ He said, ‘no, no, no, I want to fight for a world title in my first fight.’ I said, ‘you can’t, you’ve got to qualify.'”
So Arum came up with a scheme where Lomachenko would fight the top contender, and then fight for a world title.
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“And he never, ever asked for a signing bonus. Ever,” said Arum. “He said, ‘I don’t need a signing bonus. I am confident in my ability and I know you’ll get me the right fights. I’ll earn the money myself.’ Amazing story.”
Arum says he’s used to greed when dealing with young boxers at signing time.
“They’re usually so greedy when they turn pro, they argue about this, and that, and how much money,” he said. “(With Lomachenko) it was nothing like that. He came over to my house in Los Angeles one time, and he brought presents! He’s just so mature and such a professional sportsman. It’s really a breath of fresh air.”
Won his professional debut
As he promised, Lomachenko dispatched savvy veteran Jose Ramirez (then 25-3) with a fourth-round knockout in his pro debut in Las Vegas in October.
On Saturday, the southpaw will take on champion Orlando Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs) for the Mexican’s WBO featherweight belt (HBO, 9:45 p.m. ET). Salido won the vacant belt with a seventh-round knockout of Orlando Cruz last October on the same card.
Salido vs. Lomachenko is the co-main event of the rematch between super middleweights Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera at the Alamodome.
