An agreement to have Vasiliy Lomachenko challenge unified lightweight titlist George Kambosos in Australia this spring was all but set in stone, according to promoter Bob Arum.

One problem: Lomachenko appears to be in no condition to participate in a boxing bout anytime soon. The former undisputed lightweight champion is back in his homeland of Ukraine aiding in the country’s defense against Russia’s military invasion.

Arum, who promotes Lomachenko, understands that Lou DiBella, the promoter for Kambosos, will need to make a move soon in order to preserve the summer fight date for his client. Kambosos, a native of Sydney, was reportedly set to defend his WBA, WBO, and IBF lightweight titles on June 5 against Lomachenko at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

“Everything was done,” Arum told FightHub TV. “Everything was done. Lou is dealing with Jeremy Koegel, our [legal] counsel, and they had agreed to everything.

“Lou sent us a lovely letter today that he would hold out for a little while, but they’d have to go on, but thanking us for negotiating all of this in good faith.”

The 34-year-old Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) became the front runner for Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) after talks between Kambosos’ team and WBC lightweight titlist Devin Haney faltered.

“If this doesn’t get resolved by the end of the week, Lou has to look out for his fighter,” Arum said. “He’s been a gentleman in all of this. There’s always tomorrow. So Kambosos can get another opponent, hopefully wins, and then he can fight Loma later in the year, assuming the conflict has been resolved.”

While Arum seems resigned to the fact that Lomachenko won’t be stepping into a ring anytime soon, a recent report by Mike Coppinger of ESPN suggested that Lomachenko is looking for special permission from his government to leave Ukraine to train for the Kambosos fight in June. Per Ukrainian law, every healthy male between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country and are required to participate in the country’s wartime effort.

Lomachenko’s seeming unavailability has allowed Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) to re-enter the picture. Haney’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, sounded confident, saying recently “I believe this fight is going to get closed.”