Lomachenko-Salido rematch targeted for August in L.A. or Chicago

[Ruthless-RKO]

If all goes according to plan, Vasyl Lomachenko will finally have an opportunity to avenge his lone professional defeat.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told RingTV.com on Thursday that negotiations for a long-discussed rematch between Lomachenko and Orlando Salido are in the advanced stages. The WBO junior lightweight title fight doesn’t have a date or location yet — Salido first must defeat Thailand’s Amphon Suriyo in a tune-up bout on May 27 and come out unscathed — but Arum is eyeing the first week of August in either Los Angeles or Chicago for the 130-pound title tilt.

“On the 29th (that Monday), we look to move to close the deal with Bob,” Salido’s manager, Sean Gibbons, told The Ring on Thursday. “I see Lomachenko with the nonsense ‘it doesn’t matter.’ If you’re past it, daddy, quit thinking about it and move on. At the end of the day, Salido is a few years older, Lomachenko a few years better, but we’ll see what happens. Salido will be the best opponent since he fought Salido.”

Lomachenko figures to be a major favorite in the rematch — Salido is 1-1-2 since the meeting — but the fight makes a lot of sense. After all, Lomachenko deserves a crack at revenge, and with Miguel Berchelt and Takashi Miura tied up with their own fight on July 15, there’s no other natural fight at junor lightweight.

“Bob assures (money) won’t be a problem this time,” said Gibbons, who tried to close a deal for the fight last summer. The manager expects his man to receive a “high six-figure” purse. “People can say what they want, it’s still an intriguing fight. Salido won, but they blame it on weight; they blame it on low blows. I blame it on Salido knows how to fight a left-handed fighter. He’s 36, Lomachenko’s a little fresher.

“It just needs to be put to bed. Lomachenko used to be a guy not about money, he was about records, now he’s concerned about money? His thing was ‘I don’t care about the money, I care about history. It’s not like we lost the fight. We’re not being ridiculous with money.”

Revenge? Lomachenko might soon taste such sweet justice.

https://www.ringtv.com/500726-lomachenk ... l-chicago/