Bob Arum: Vasiliy Lomachenko The Best Technical Fighter I’ve Seen Since Muhammad Ali

Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum rates Vasiliy Lomachenko as the best technical fighter he has seen since Muhammad Ali’s early days.

Lomachenko is currently gearing up for his lightweight title unification bout with Teofimo Lopez which takes place this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

And leading up to the event, Arum heaped heavy praise on the Ukrainian by comparing him to the late great Ali.

“When Ali was in his prime, before the three and a half years when he couldn’t fight, he was a tremendous technical fighter,” Arum said on Loma Official TV (via Boxing Insider). “He had a control over distance and how to move in the ring that no one had ever seen before.

“Lomachenko has those sort of skills and more. Lomachenko technically is the best fighter I’ve seen since that early Ali.”

Lomachenko — who holds the WBA, WBO and WBC franchise lightweight titles — has certainly mesmerized boxing audiences and even casuals with his volume, footwork and speed that has bamboozled just about every opponent he has met in recent years.

And with 10 of his 15 career wins coming by way of knockout, Lomachenko’s killer instinct is also what separates him from Floyd Mayweather according to Arum.

“He doesn’t want an easy fight or to win a decision, he wants to win by destroying his opponent,” Arum added. “Mayweather was a great defensive fighter. But unlike Mayweather, Loma is always looking for a way to destroy his opponents. That’s what makes him a fan-friendly fighter.”

Lomachenko will have a chance to further his legacy even more by taking Lopez’s IBF lightweight title and unifying the division this weekend.

Do you agree with Arum?