Suarez, Lomachenko on collision course

Charly Suarez might find himself tangling with Vasyl Lomachenko if a victory over the Ukrainian would award him a world title shot that has agonizingly eluded him.

With O’Shaquie Foster becoming a three-belt titleholder following his recent win over Emanuel Navarrete, Suarez resumed his call for Foster and the stakeholders, including Top Rank chief Bob Arum, to commence talks.

But Arum doesn’t seem to be hot on staging a Foster-Suarez scuffle until the Filipino meets Lomachenko in what could go down as a title elimination match.

What’s keeping Suarez from securing his shot is because his status as mandatory challenger only falls within the jurisdiction of the World Boxing Organization (WBO).

Foster also holds the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts and doesn’t recognize Suarez as their mandatory challenger.

Still, negotiations are under way for Suarez’s next move with Sampson Lewkowicz presiding over the talks that could see Lomachenko and Suarez square off in February 2027.

Under Arum’s grand plans, the winner battles Foster.

Delfin Boholst, who manages and trains Suarez, told DAILY TRIBUNE that the initial plan is to return to the United States before the end of the year.

“That’s what we are going to do next provided that a deal is made in the next few weeks,” said Boholst, noting that if a Lomachenko win will guarantee a world title shot, “so be it.”

Suarez, who turns 39 next year, has been the WBO’s mandatory challenger since the middle of last year.

Twice, Navarrete didn’t defend against him, citing a fact in the boxing business that unification fights superseded a mandatory fight.

Navarrete sidestepped Suarez early this year to face Eduardo Nuñez in an all-Mexican slugfest in Arizona that he won to become WBO and IBF titleholder.

Just several days ago, Navarrete met with Foster in San Antonio, Texas.

On both occasions, Suarez didn’t get a step-aside fee.