Vasiliy Lomachenko Could Return In Summer Against Masayoshi Nakatani

Former lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko could return to action in the summer against Masayoshi Nakatani.

Lomachenko hasn’t competed since October when he lost his WBA and WBO lightweight titles to Teofimo Lopez after suffering a unanimous decision defeat in their title unification clash.

The Ukrainian underwent shoulder surgery following the setback and was naturally looking for a rematch. However, that doesn’t look like it will be happening with promoter Bob Arum suggesting a potential matchup with Nakatani instead.

“We’ve talked with [Lomachenko], and we’re looking at early summer,” Arum told IFL (via Boxing Scene). “He’s tired of fighting in the bubble. He’s a big ticket seller.

“We think we could do a big fight in the United States, maybe against the Japanese boy Masayoshi Nakatani. He gave Lopez all he could handle. Nakatani is a really hard puncher.”

Nakatani holds a 19-1 record and is coming off a TKO win over Felix Verdejo in December. The win was particularly impressive as the Japanese lightweight came back from two knockdowns to earn the victory.

His only loss notably came at the hands of Lopez who outpointed him to a unanimous decision in July 2019.

What do you think of a Lomachenko vs. Nakatani matchup?