The trap is set. And if Top Rank Promotions’ CEO Bob Arum would have his way, Charly Suarez will be out of the picture and Arum’s boy Vasily Lomachenko will become undisputed world super featherweight champion. Sadly, the Filipino WBO mandatory contender will have little or no say about.
After Suarez’s controversial loss to former WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete was declared a no-contest, the WBO attempted to schedule a rematch. Navarrete dodged it for more than a year, then opted to stake his WBO and IBF belts against WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster, instead, with the understanding that the winner would face Suarez. Navarrete lost, then Arum changed the deal. Right after the Foster victory, he foretold of seeing inevitably facing Foster to become undisputed champion. Arum said that Suarez and Lomachemko would face off, after which the former two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division champion would fight Foster. Did he slip by assuming that Vasily would win, or has he put his considerable machinery into motion?
On Thursday in the US, the Ukrainian Lomachenko came out of retirement to officially sign a new, co-promotion agreement between his Loma Power and Top Rank. He said that he would return to the ring in 2027. Meanwhile, Arum promised to give the Filipino contender a big purse to fight his boy instead of Foster. It all seems so neatly planned.
Suarez, 38, has deserved a world-title shot for years, and should have gotten a rematch with Navarrete first. But last July, Suarez demolished Manuel Avila in 2:31 seconds to send a message that he was not to be trifled with. However, since he is outside the Top Rank circle, he will continue to be edged out. The advantages the undefeated Filipino will carry into the fight are his being more active, and being relatively fresh compared to other opponents. They are the same age, but Lomachenko has not fought since 2025.
“At this point, we will fight whoever they put in front of us,” Charly told this writer. “If we do not and try to choose an opponent, the opportunity might not come again. Time moves on.”
“It also puts pressure on us, the training team,” says Suarez’s lead trainer Delfin Boholst. “We have to make sure Charly is ready to fight, and make adjustments for whoever the opponent is going to be.”
So instead of his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion in even just one world organization, he is being enticed with a larger amount to risk it all against a proven opponent who is under the promoter’s banner. Short-term gain over immortality. If it looks fishy and smells fishy, then it must be fishy. This writer can practically guarantee that, if Suarez does not knock Lomachenko out, he will lose it all. And Top Rank will hand their boy his lifelong dream of being undisputed champion, instead.
All we can hope is that, when the ink dries on the contract, Suarez knocks Lomachenko out.
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The PBA’s first-ever Rookie of the Year Gil Cortez will be showcased on “Masters of the Game,” airing on IBC 13, DWAN 1206 AM, YouTube and Facebook today at 5:15 p.m., right after the PCSO lottery draw.