Vasiliy Lomachenko back in United States ahead of fall return to boxing, who might he fight?

Vasiliy Lomachenko’s return to the boxing ring is in full motion, as the former three-division champion and pound-for-pound list mainstay has arrived in the United States to get back into training for a likely return in the fall.

At last update, Top Rank were planning to have Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KO) back in October, perhaps, which would line him up with the current plan for the Haney vs Kambosos rematch on Oct. 15 (Oct. 16 in Australia).

If the 34-year-old Lomachenko wins his next fight, Top Rank would obviously want to match him with Haney, assuming Haney beats Kambosos again as he will be heavily favored to do. Top Rank have an ongoing deal with Haney, and the biggest and easiest fight for them to make in that scenario would be Haney vs Lomachenko.

It’s also a fight that Lomachenko avoided back in 2019, which created the entire debacle with the “WBC Franchise” title and various bogus claims to undisputed champion status thereafter. Haney now is the actual undisputed champion. There are very easy angles for promotion on Haney vs Lomachenko.

But first, of course, they both have to win. Lomachenko is coming back from Ukraine, where he was in the middle of a war. Some people will say, “Well, it’s not like he was on the front lines,” and true, probably not, but that’s still a lot to see and experience that goes far beyond a normal everyday life for most.

Loma last fought this past December, dominating Richard Commey over 12 rounds, and went 2-0 in 2021.

There’s been no major speculation on Lomachenko’s return foe, but there will be plenty of options. Namibia’s Jeremiah Nakathila (23-2, 19 KO) may well fit the bill. The 32-year-old has fought on a pair of Top Rank shows and impressed last time out with a sixth round stoppage of Miguel Berchelt.

As far as in-house Top Rank options at 135, there’s also 28-year-old Giovanni Cabrera (21-0, 7 KO), coming off of a July 23 win over Gabriel Flores Jr, or 26-year-old Jamaine Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KO), who beat Jamel Herring on May 21. Japan’s Shuichiro Yoshino (15-0, 11 KO) may also make sense from a sanctioning body point of view.