Vasyl Lomachenko's five best fights as modern great retires

Independent

15 hours ago

Vasyl Lomachenko shocked the boxing world yesterday by announcing his retirement from boxing at 37.
The Ukrainian had a short but hugely successful pro career, becoming the fastest fighter ever to be a three-weight world champion, doing so in just 12 fights.
He also amassed arguably the greatest amateur record of all time, 396-1, claiming two Olympic gold medals along the way.
To honour the career of one of the best pure boxers the sport has ever seen, here are Lomachenko's five best wins as a professional.
Guillermo Rigondeaux
December 19, 2017, Madison Square Garden – Lomachenko faced another amateur legend and two-time Olympic Champion - Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Rigondeaux came into the fight having not lost since 2003 as an amateur, but had moved up two weight classes to face Lomachenko.
It was clear that Lomachenko, eight years younger, would be too much for Rigondeaux from the opening bell. His speed, strength and dynamism going forwards were more than even the Cuban defensive master could handle.
The Cuban champion was unable to put any shots together against the WBO champion, who was able to anticipate anything coming his way and extinguish the fires with ease.
The fight ended before the seventh round as Rigondeaux retired on his stool, claiming an early hand injury stopped him from continuing.
But this was the fourth consecutive opponent of Lomachenko's who said ' no mas '. At the time of the retirement, all three scorecards were in favour of the Ukrainian, 59-54. 59-54 and 60-53.
Jorge Linares
May 5, 2018, Madison Square Garden – Having sought out new challenges at lightweight, Lomachenko took on the WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares.
On fight night, the Venezuelan found initial success in punching with Lomachenko to stem the flow of his volume punching, but the former super featherweight champ's footwork allowed him to get in and out of range before any of Linares' counters could meaningfully land.
Lomachenko suffered the first real setback of his career in the sixth round as he got perhaps too comfortable entering Linares's range and got caught with a well-timed right hand that put him on the canvas.
He beat the count but was saved by the bell before Linares had the opportunity to follow up.
The fight was a stalemate on the scorecards in the tenth round. But this would not matter as Lomachenko pushed Linares back to the ropes and landed a body shot that dropped the WBA champion to one knee.
He beat the count, but the referee chose to end the fight in the tenth, giving the Ukrainian a world title in his third weight division.
Luke Campbell
August 31, 2019, The O2 – It was another battle of the Olympic gold medallists as 'Loma' travelled to the UK to fight Luke Campbell.
Campbell had a mixed run as a pro up to the Loma fight, having been beaten twice already, but had an amateur pedigree that meant you could never write him off.
The opening rounds were cagey as the much taller Campbell attempted to keep Lomachenko at the end of his jab, but what some mistake for Campbell getting the better of his opponent is the Ukrainian downloading all of Campbell's reactions, movements and habits before taking over.
That is exactly what he did, gliding around Campbell, landing hooks to head and body at will, then pivoting away at an angle – boxing for the purists. Lomachenko had Campbell hurt at the end of the fifth round, landing a flurry of hooks, and as Campbell looked ready to drop, the bell sounded.
But the writing was on the wall, and the champion knew how to get to his opponent. He once again breached the defences of Campbell in the eleventh, but there was no bell to save him this time, and he got dropped by a right hook.
He made it up before the count, but Lomachenko won a wide decision, 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
Gary Allen Russell Jr
June 21, 2014, Carson – After losing a controversial split decision to an overweight Orlando Salido for the WBO super featherweight title in his second professional fight, Lomachenko would get another shot in his next fight against the unbeaten but unproven Gary Allen Russell Jr.
Russell Jr's game plan was clear from the outset; he wanted to outpunch 'Loma'. But as any great fighter does, the Ukrainian adjusted on the fly to nullify Russell Jr's fast combinations, absorbing them on the gloves or simply making him miss.
Lomachenko was landing the more effective and eye-catching work through the middle rounds, making Russell Jr look lost at times with his hypnotic footwork.
The American could not keep up or make any changes to turn the tide, highlighting the gap in quality between the two
Lomachenko's body work came home to roost in the championship rounds as Russell Jr began to fade and was hurt on multiple occasions.
Despite a mysterious 114-114 draw on one scorecard, the Ukrainian came home to win a majority decision with 116-112 on two scorecards and claim his first world title.
Nicholas Walters
November 26, 2016, Las Vegas – Lomachenko took on what was supposed to be the toughest test of his career against an avoided power puncher in Nicholas Walters, who was unbeaten in 27 fights with 21 knockouts.
Many thought that Walters would have the ingredients to give Lomachenko serious problems. His wide, bladed stance and powerful hooking should have made it more difficult for Lomachenko to pivot around him and unload combinations.
But on the night, the WBO super featherweight champion proved he had still not shown his true potential. His upper body movement made him impossibly elusive, bobbing and weaving, then springing back with attacks at previously unknown angles to Walters.
Credit to Walters, who changed his game plan, moving down to hook the body more in the sixth round. But as quickly as he adjusted, Lomachenko had it covered before the round was even over.
Outgunned and outmatched, Walters retired in the seventh round and would not fight again until 2023.