The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of June 12
Vasyl Lomachenko became the fastest fighter in boxing history to win a world championship in multiple weight classes with a one-sided knockout of veteran tough guy Roman "Rocky" Martinez at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
The ease with which Lomachenko, a decorated amateur and two-time Olympic gold medalist, took apart Martinez and stopped him with a perfectly timed right hand was a huge statement to the rest of the 130-pound division.
We take a look at how high his ceiling could rise and who he wants to fight next.
Also, will Top Rank's Bob Arum and Premier Boxing Champions' Al Haymon work together now that they've settled their lawsuit? What's next for Errol Spence? We'll also discuss Andrzej Fonfara's next fight and a possible Fight of the Year contender between Krzysztof Glowacki and Oleksandr Usyk.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the week!
How High Is Lomachenko's Ceiling?
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As the above photo shows, Lomachenko's ceiling is extraordinarily high.
The 28-year-old Ukrainian former amateur standout made history Saturday night inside the Theater at Madison Square Garden by emphatically knocking out Martinez to become the fastest fighter in history to capture a world title in multiple weight classes.
And he made it look easy, mostly because it was.
Lomachenko boxed circles around Martinez, a multi-weight champion known for his grit and toughness, if not for his technical boxing prowess, and seemed to be toying with him in front of over 4,500 surprisingly pro-Ukrainian fans on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day parade.
The end came suddenly in the fifth round, with Martinez circling off the ropes (Lomachenko had put him there with a pair of left hooks) and Lomachenko pursuing him. A picture-perfect right hand dropped Martinez hard to the mat (one of the sickest thuds you'll ever hear), and you could still be counting now if you wanted.
Lomachenko was expected to win, but the ease with which he deposited one of the game's toughest fighters was impressive, and the talk about his pound-for-pound prowess no longer seems quite as premature as it did prior to the fight.
The obvious move now is to unify the division, but that might need to wait for just a bit.
Orlando Salido, who one week prior had gone to war with Francisco Vargas, was in the arena, and Lomachenko stated clearly in his post-fight comments that he wants Salido next.
The Mexican warrior had missed weight and used some dirty tactics, but he holds a victory over Lomachenko (who was in just his second pro fight). The new champ has revenge on his mind.
Will Arum and Haymon Work Together?
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Arum settled his lawsuit with boxing's reclusive power broker Haymon late in May. The case had stemmed from claims made by Arum and his promotional company Top Rank that Haymon, who manages a large stable of fighters and is the force behind the Premier Boxing Champions series, was in violation of federal anti-trust laws.
The terms of the settlement were not made public, and Arum refused to comment on them.
Victor Salazar of Boxing Scene reports that Arum and Haymon are now willing and able to work together, which could be a boon for boxing fans and fighters on both sides. This has the potential to break up the logjam that has prevented a slew of high-profile fights over the years.
"We settled the case. There’s no impediment. We talk from time to time so that means when there’s a match that could be made, we’ll make it but right now we’re not talking about any specific match," Arum said, per Salazar.
You can bet that's music to the ears of fighters such as Terence Crawford and Lomachenko, who have struggled to attract opponents who allow them to showcase their skills against top-level opposition and entice the fans.
Whether Arum and Haymon can truly put their differences aside and make fights happen, however, is one of those things we'll still have to see in order to believe.
Is Spence vs. Bundu Next?
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Spence graduated from blue-chip prospect to full-fledged contender with a blowout win over Chris Algieri at the Barclays Center in April. He dropped the former 140-pound titlist three times and beat him more impressively than either Manny Pacquiao or Amir Khan had.
Many hoped that victory would lead to an immediate title opportunity, but, alas, it appears that the former U.S. Olympian will need to pass one further test to earn his chance at championship gold.
Mitch Abramson of the Ring Magazine reports that the IBF, which ranks Spence as its No. 2 contender, has ordered Spence to face Leonard Bundu for the mandatory position to champion Kell Brook.
Brook will be unifying titles with WBO champion Jessie Vargas in September.
Bundu isn't the sexy name that fans were hoping for in Spence's next fight.
He's 41 years old and has won two straight fights against little known foes since dropping a shutout decision to Keith Thurman in an awkward 2014 title challenge. Most of his career has taken place well off the radar of American fight fans.
Spence noted in Twitter that his team reached out to every ranked contender below him on the IBF's list, and Bundu was the only one willing to accept the opportunity. Even so, he maintains that nothing is finalized until he gets word from Haymon as to his next opponent.
Russian prospect Konstantin Ponomarev was originally slotted in to face Spence for the mandatory position, but he had to withdraw from consideration with a hand injury suffered in his last fight.
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Has Fonfara Become 175's Third-Best Fighter?
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Fonfara has the look of a fighter who is starting to come into his own.
The 28-year-old Polish contender has won three in a row since dropping a spirited decision to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2014 (in a fight where he dropped and hurt the champ). He will face Irish tough guy Joe Smith Jr. Saturday night in the headline bout of a PBC card on NBC.
Fonfara got his career back on track with impressive back-to-back wins over former world champions. He stopped Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in his second fight after the Stevenson defeat and took a unanimous decision from Nathan Cleverly in his most recent outing.
The Cleverly fight was considered a Fight of the Year contender and set a CompuBox record for punches thrown in a light heavyweight fight. The two men combined to throw more than 2,500 punches and connected on 936 of them.
Smith is a tough kid from Long Island, New York, who punches real hard. But he's never faced anything close to the caliber of fighter who will oppose him in Chicago later this week.
That doesn't mean he can't win, but it's going to require a great effort against Fonfara, who is probably the third-best fighter at 175 pounds after Stevenson and unified champion Sergey Kovalev.
Can Glowacki vs. Usyk Contend for Fight of the Year?
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Glowacki is the type of fighter who has the goods to revitalize a long-dormant cruiserweight division. He captured the WBO Cruiserweight Championship with a stunning knockout of Marco Huck last August and made an exciting first defense against former champ Steve Cunningham.
He's become must-see television in a short time, and now he has the type of opponent who could literally blow the room off and give some serious fan attention to the division sandwiched between light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports that Glowacki has reached an agreement to defend his championship in Poland against mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk. The fight will take place either September 10 or 17 and features a pair of murderous punchers.
Usyk was a decorated Ukrainian amateur who captured a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He has won all nine of his professional fights by knockout and has advanced quickly through the ranks.
This one is a fight fan's dream, and you could probably feel safe setting your expectation level high.
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