Photo: Naoki Fukuda

Bob Arum believes in Vasyl Lomachenko.

The 84-year-old promoter describes the featherweight titleholder as a once-in-a-generation talent, even going so far as to call him the Picasso of his sport who uses the ring as his canvas.

If Arum is prone to hyperbole than he can’t help himself. Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold-medal winner who won a title in just his third pro fight. That’s almost hard to comprehend. He is THE RING’s No. 1 featherweight and will likely enter the pound-for-pound rankings as his career advances.

But despite his ring brilliance, Arum admits he is unsure if fans will totally grasp and appreciate Lomachenko’s advanced, thinking man’s style. Lomachenko’s cerebral methods have drawn mostly positive reviews. He simply outclasses most of his opponents. But on occasion, those not enamored with his style on social media and on message boards have made the link between Lomachenko and another misunderstood, highly-skilled fighter: Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Arum once promoted the Cuban stylist but quickly grew tired of his lack of fire in the ring and defensive-minded approach; he no longer works with him. It’s obvious that Arum has more affection for the more aggressive Lomachenko (5-1, 3 knockouts) than he does Rigondeaux. But Arum didn’t totally reject the comparison between the two champions, either. They both generally use their high boxing I.Q. and skill to out-fox opponents.

“Well, Rigondeaux is a major talent,” Arum said on Thursday. “But his style – are they denigrating him because he’s like Rigondeaux? That may be. But (Lomachenko is) an artist. It’s my job to get people to appreciate the art-form.”

Arum will get his chance on Saturday when Lomachenko challenges WBO junior lightweight titleholder Rocky Martinez at Madison Square Garden’s Theater on HBO. Fans, hopeful for another violent slugfest like the one they saw recently on HBO between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido, will see something entirely different. Lomachenko is a master of distance and pace. He sees openings where openings don’t exist.

He doesn’t mind throwing the punches. It’s the catching part he’s not so keen on. “Of course I could imagine this kind of violent bout but most of the punches they will be throwing — if I was there most likely they’re going to be landing in the air, not on me,” he said through his translator/advisor Egis Klimas. “I really don’t like when someone punches me.”

Lomachenko is aware of the obligation to entertain. But the priority, he says, is to implement the game plane first, then to give the fans a treat. “Of course it’s always in my mind — I want to entertain people who are watching my boxing,” said Lomachenko, who will try to make history by becoming the first fighter to win a title in a second weight class in his seventh bout. “I want to entertain my fans. But first it’s the plan for the bout, plan what I was told by my team to do to win the bout. But after all of that, in my mind it’s how to entertain and do something differently to make sure the fans are going to enjoy.”

If fans can appreciate Lomachenko’s skills, it will be a major victory for Arum and his promotional company. In the meantime, Lomachenko goes about his business, attempting to do things that have never been done before. “It may very well be that it may never translate to fans,” Arum said. “But I don’t care because the body of work that he will leave will be a body of work that will recognize him as a great fighter. I don’t know if I can ever sell him like a big pay-per-view guy. I don’t know. And he understands that. But I know that I’ll create a body of work for him so that when he finally hangs it up, people will say that he’s one of the great fighters of all time.”

Mitch Abramson is a former reporter for the New York Daily News and can be reached on Twitter at: @Mabramson13.