“Well, you know, again, I don’t know what his financial situation is. He’s made a lot of money with us. But you know, he lives in the Ukraine, and there’s a lot of problems there, and maybe he needs money, or maybe he’s just anxious to get out of the house,” Arum told Fighthype.
Arum’s comments caught the eye because promoters rarely publicly speculate whether a returning fighter might be financially motivated. Lomachenko hasn’t fought since beating George Kambosos Jr. stopped in May 2024 to capture the IBF lightweight title before later walking away from boxing.
The former three-division world champion is now 38 years old and has already shown signs of decline during the later stages of his run at lightweight. Losses to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney, along with a tough physical stretch at 135 pounds, have raised questions about how much Lomachenko has left even before his long absence from the ring.
Arum admitted he doesn’t know what version of Lomachenko would return if the return moves forward.
“I don’t know what, if anything, Lomachenko lost with a 2-year retirement. So, for me to assume how he would do with all these younger guys would be wrong. We’ll just have to see,” said Arum.
The interviewer specifically asked Arum if Lomachenko could still compete against younger names like Shakur Stevenson, Abdullah Mason and Raymond Muratalla, but Arum avoided making predictions.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the return, Arum still praised Lomachenko as one of the best fighters Top Rank promoted during his era with the company.
“Loma represents the best that boxing has to offer. So I wish him the best because he was a great great fighter for us and he truly represents the best in boxing,” Arum said.
