Boxing: Lomachenko ends lightweight title unification talk with Davis
Talks between Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko have broken off, an official involved in the negotiations told ESPN, after Lomachenko decided to take off the rest of 2024.
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The highly anticipated lightweight title unification between Davis (one of boxing's top stars) and Lomachenko (a future Hall of Famer) was being eyed for November in Las Vegas.
Officials from PBC, which represents Davis, and Lomachenko's promoter Top Rank met last week in Las Vegas as they attempted to finalise a deal for an ESPN-Prime Video PPV, sources said.
Lomachenko, 36, plans to return in 2025 to defend his IBF 135-pound title, the official said. The two-time Olympic gold medalist won the title in May with an 11th-round TKO victory over George Kambosos in Australia.
The fight was Lomachenko's first since a disputed decision loss to Devin Haney the previous May. Ukraine's Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) also won titles at 126 and 130 pounds.
Lomachenko arrived in Los Angeles this week to weigh his options and mull over the offer to fight Davis, sources said.
"Loma is not in the mood right now. He doesn't have the motivation at the moment," Lomachenko's manager, Egis Klimas, told boxing reporter Steve Kim last Friday. "He's taking off. He wants to spend more time with the family. ... With Loma, just money is not what motivates him.
"He doesn't take anything just because of money. You can offer him millions, tens of millions of dollars -- if he doesn't have motivation, he's not ready to prepare for the fight."
--ESPN
