By Keith Idec

OXON HILL, Maryland – Maybe a rematch with Orlando Salido doesn’t mean as much to Vasyl Lomachenko as it once seemed.

Lomachenko’s manager wants the Ukrainian star to move up from 130 pounds to 135 for his next fight. Egis Klimas mentioned fighting WBO world lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KOs) as Lomachenko’s possible next move, with an eye on an eventual lightweight championship showdown with WBC champ Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs).

The 29-year-old Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) could enhance his reputation by at least attempting to avenge his lone professional defeat to Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs, 1 NC). Klimas just doesn’t think that’s entirely necessary now that the highly skilled southpaw has established himself as one of the best boxers in the world.

“Not really,” Klimas told BoxingScene.com. “I don’t know why that name keeps coming up, if you look at where [Salido] is right now. As Lomachenko just said [in the ring], that when he fought Salido he was in third grade and he was fighting a guy in the 12th grade.

“Right now, Lomachenko is already in university and Salido is still there. Probably he already went down from 12th grade. I don’t think it’s interesting anymore – that fight. But just to [erase] his loss, we might be able to do it. We will have to sit down and consider in the camp, do we want that fight? What good will that fight do for us?”

Lomachenko’s promoters at Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. tried to make the Salido rematch for Saturday night, but the two sides couldn’t come to a financial agreement. They settled on Jason Sosa (20-2-4, 15 KOs), an overmatched opponent Lomachenko dominated for nine rounds before Sosa’s trainer, Raul Rivas, stopped their fight before the 10th round started at MGM National Harbor.

Salido defeated Lomachenko by split decision in just the second fight of Lomachenko’s pro career. Salido drew criticism for weighing in at 128¼ pounds for their WBO 126-pound championship match and for fighting dirty against Lomachenko three years ago in San Antonio.

The 36-year-old Salido hasn’t fought since his 12-round draw with fellow Mexican Francisco Vargas (23-1-2, 17 KOs) on June 4 in Carson, California. Their unforgettable battle was named “Fight of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America for 2016.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.