Lucas Jones
Since arriving on the scene of his third division in 2018, Vasiliy Lomachenko has made it his mission to pursue a dream (and only one dream) to lay the cornerstone in his unique and historic career: an undisputed championship.
Already considered one of the greatest amateur boxers in history after winning two Olympic gold medals for his native Ukraine, Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) only continued his quest for greatness by turning pro. He won a world title in just his third professional fight, added a second division title in his seventh fight, and then created an incredible four-fight stretch (ending in 2017) where all of his opponents quit (briefly labeling him as ” No -but-chenko” by fans and media).
Lomachenko’s only problem was that he became so dominant at 126 and 130 pounds that the other champions refused to fight him, which derailed his dream of becoming an undisputed four-belt champion. That’s the reason Lomachenko moved up so quickly to lightweight in just his 12th fight, in a weight class admittedly over his head in terms of the size and effectiveness of his strength.
Lomachenko is so good, though, that it almost didn’t seem to matter. He secured near-unanimous approval as pound-for-pound king, but saw his dream of winning all four titles dashed twice – both times in close decisions against undefeated champions (Teofimo Lopez Jr., Devin Haney) who looked evenly matched. the revolutionary victory to become household names.
The biggest difference between then and now is that the two men who narrowly defeated Lomachenko at lightweight have now come and gone after physically overcoming the division. But little Lomachenko is still here and his desire at 36 to fulfill his dream, at a time when his window of opportunity seems to be slowly closing, couldn’t be stronger.
Lomachenko returns Saturday in Perth, Australia, when he challenges native hero George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) for the IBF title that was vacated when Haney moved up to 140 pounds last fall. The fight was titled “Road to Redemption,” which not only takes aim at Lomachenko, but also the fact that Kambosos, the former unified king of the division following his loss to Lopez in 2021, dropped two title losses to Haney the following year.
“I was a man who wanted to conquer the world,” said Lomacheko during Top Rank’s pre-fight documentary series. “I was very close to the undisputed, but I can’t because I lose at lightweight and [the loss] I took my dream, I took my goal. I wouldn’t want to end on that note.”
Lomachenko’s 2020 loss to Lopez was much closer than the scores suggested, as the shifty southpaw rallied furiously in the second half but fell short (and, admittedly, started too late). But it was Haney’s undisputed title fight last May that made most observers believe that Lomachenko had done enough and that age had not yet robbed him of superiority.
“I had a chance [against Haney], I lose this chance,” said Lomachenko. “On paper, I’m not an undisputed world champion, but inside, if we talk to Teofimo, it was close. But if we’re talking to Haney, it wasn’t a close fight. I understand that I won this fight. People know and understand about this robbery.”
This weekend’s fight, which will be broadcast live on Sunday in Australia, not only presents Lomachenko with the opportunity to get back into title contention should he win the IBF crown, but it would also put him on the right path – according to Hall -of -Fame promoter Bob Arum – to have one final chance to realize his undisputed dreams in the near future.
Arum, the CEO and founder of Top Rank, told Sky Sports this week that a Lomachenko win could propel him into an immediate title unification fight with undefeated WBC champion Shakur Stevenson, whose recent run as a three-division champion allowed him to pass Lomachenko into the P4P top10.
Two major obstacles – plus the fact that Lomachenko, a 7-to-1 betting favorite, must first beat the troubled Kambosos – remain surrounding Stevenson, however. He must first defend his WBC title on July 6 against Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs) and then must decide, at the conclusion of his Top Rank deal, whether to re-sign with the promotion or seek higher offers elsewhere (including PBC, where WBA champion Gervonta Davis resides).
“So if Lomachenko wins and Shakur wins, then in the fall [we] make it a Lomachenko-Shakur fight,” Arum said. “Every serious boxing fan will be watching this in awe, between two great coaches fighting for a unified title. Let’s see what happens. Kambosos is very good. Even though he’s not from Perth, he’s fighting on home soil, which means something.”
To Lomachenko’s credit, although his undisputed dream has been talked about for years, he refuses to look beyond the challenge in front of him before lining up potential fights with any of the other champions, be it Stevenson, Davis or whoever ends up claiming the title. title. WBO bracelet still vacant.
“I’m looking forward to the IBF title,” Lomachenko said at Wednesday’s final press conference. “I need to win my title and after that I can think about my future.”
Of Lomachenko’s 20 professional fights, an incredible 16 were contested for at least one recognized world title. This was the same boxer who only signed Arum on the promise that he would have a chance to compete for a championship in his professional debut (he was forced to wait for his second professional fight, which he lost via a disputed decision).
So when Lomachenko thinks about the last remaining goal on his boxing to-do list, it’s easy to understand why the idea of an undisputed championship gives him so much motivation and pride.
“In professional boxing we have four belts [per division],” said Lomachenko. “We can’t be talking about four different world champions. We can not. In boxing, we only have one champion, he is the undisputed world champion.”
And when he thinks about how difficult it was to get other champions to agree to face him, there’s still a certain spark of motivation in Lomachenko’s eyes when he talks about his age and the fact that he’s fighting in a division above his own. preferred weight, which suddenly gave everyone confidence that he could be conquered.
“I remember a time when I was the guy and nobody wanted to fight,” Lomachenko said. “Now, of course, everyone wants to fight me because I’m a year older. But at the moment, I still feel dangerous. I still have my speed, my power, my conditioning. I just want to show my best.”
