Lomachenko Could Retire

October 11, 2024
4 months
Lomachenko Could Retire

Vasiliy Lomachenko could retire from the sport. 

Lomachenko has not boxed since beating George Kambosos Jr. to win the vacant IBF Lightweight Title. It was the perfect response after losing to Devin Haney in a controversial unanimous decision. Most of the boxing community felt Lomachenko had done enough to win, as he missed out on becoming the Undisputed Lightweight Champion. Haney would vacate the belts as he moved up to junior welterweight. The rematch never happened, meaning that Lomachenko could not avenge the loss. 

Before the Kambosos fight, the Ukrainian confirmed that he wanted to retire. However, his father convinced him otherwise, stating that he did not want his son to retire on a loss. After the Kambosos fight, Lomachenko was linked with the Gervonta Davis bout. Reports indicated that they could have fought by the end of the year. However, Lomachenko’s manager, Egis Klimas, confirmed that his fighter did not have the motivation for the fight. 

Loma Vs. Tank

“Loma is not in the mood right now, he doesn’t have the motivation at the moment. He’s taking off; he wants to spend more time with the family. He doesn’t want to do anything till the end of the year,” Egis Klimas said

Nevertheless, if he does come back, there are some big fights on the table. He has consistently been linked with the WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson. They were both under Top Rank, but Stevenson has since then left to sign with Matchroom Boxing. Shakur was set to face Joe Cordina on October 12. However, he withdrew after injuring his hand in sparring. Stevenson has said that he wants to fight William Zepeda on his return.

Zepeda is his WBC mandatory. But if he can secure a fight with Lomachenko, that would no doubt be the biggest test of his career. The Davis fight is always on the table if Lomachenko is looking for one last payday. Davis is seen as one of the biggest names in the sport and has been labelled as the cash cow. 
Tank has been criticized for not facing the big names. His biggest victory so far has been against Ryan Garcia.

Lomachenko’s Legacy

However, there are question marks over the victory since Garcia boxed at a 136-pound catchweight with a ten-pound rehydration clause. There were suggestions that Garcia was weight drained. Outside of those two big names, there is not a lot of incentive for Lomachenko to make a return. He is a three-weight world champion who is no longer at his peak.

His defeats against Teofimo Lopez and Haney showed that. And if undisputed is no longer on the table, Lomachenko will have to consider his motives for fighting. He has already secured his financial future from the sport while also creating his legacy. He will go down as a future Hall of Famer, with the only regret being that he never became undisputed. But that has not stopped the fans from praising the Ukrainian.

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