Vasyl Lomachenko

Vasyl Lomachenko
Василь Ломаченко

Lomachenko in 2012
Statistics
Real name Vasyl Anatoliyovich Lomachenko
Nickname(s)
  • Hi-Tech
  • The Matrix[1]
Weight(s)
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Reach 166 cm (65 in)
Nationality Ukrainian
Born (1988-02-17) 17 February 1988
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Ukraine)
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 10
Wins 9
Wins by KO 7
Losses 1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Featherweight
2012 London Lightweight
World Championships
2009 Milan Featherweight
2011 Baku Lightweight
2007 Chicago Featherweight
European Championships
2008 Liverpool Featherweight

Vasyl Anatoliyovich Lomachenko (Ukrainian: Василь Анатолійович Ломаченко, IPA: [βɐˈsɪlʲ lomɐˈt͡ʃɛnko]; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian professional boxer.[2] He has held the WBO super featherweight title since 2016, and previously the WBO featherweight title from 2014 to 2016; he won the latter title in his third professional fight.

Known for his excellent hand speed, timing, accuracy, creativity and foot movement, Lomachenko is currently one of the most highly-rated boxers in the sport, as well as arguably the greatest amateur of all time.[3] Competing in the featherweight and lightweight divisions as an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships, consecutive gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and consecutive gold at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.

As of August 2017, Lomachenko is ranked, pound for pound, third worldwide by ESPN;[4] fourth by BoxRec[5] and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board;[6] and fifth by The Ring;[7] He is also ranked by all four as the world's best super featherweight.[8][9][5][10] The Ring named Lomachenko as their Prospect of the Year in 2013. CBS Sports[11] and HBO Sports[12][13] named him Boxer of the Year in 2016.

Early life

Ukrainian from the multi-ethnic port city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in southern Ukraine, Lomachenko was coached by his father Anatoly from a young age. He claims that if his father had not been a boxing coach he probably would have chosen to play ice hockey professionally.[2]

Amateur career

At the World Championships 2007 in Chicago he beat Abner Cotto in the first round, Theodoros Papazov, Arturo Santos Reyes, and Li Yang in the semifinal to reach a fight against Russian favorite Albert Selimov, another southpaw, to whom he lost, 11:16.

Lomachenko won gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. He avenged his 2007 World Championship defeat by Selimov in the first round. Lomachenko beat his five opponents by an astonishing 58-13 on the way to his first gold medal, and was subsequently named the outstanding boxer for the tournament and awarded the Val Barker Trophy.

In 2012 London Olympics he won his second consecutive Gold Medal. He defeated Han Soon-Chul of South Korea in the final by 19-9.

Lomachenko finished his amateur career with an impressive career record of 396 wins and only one loss, to Albert Selimov, which was avenged twice.[14][15]

World Amateur Championships results

2007

2009[16]

2011

Olympic Games results

2008

2012

European Championships results

2008

World Series of Boxing

Prior to turning professional, Lomachenko competed in the lightweight division of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) from January to May 2013. Despite having six fights in this tournament, some outlets would later claim that those fights should have counted towards Lomachenko's professional record prior to his official debut later that year, due to the lack of headgear and rounds being scored using the ten-point must system in WSB.[18]

Professional career

Featherweight

After winning his second Olympic gold medal, Lomachenko made the decision to turn professional. After meeting with several fight promoters, he signed a contract to fight for Top Rank. Lomachenko made his professional debut in United States on 12 October 2013 as part of the undercard to Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Márquez, defeating Mexican fighter José Ramirez with a fourth-round knockout.[14]

Lomachenko vs. Salido

Lomachenko's bid to make history by winning a world championship in his second fight and break Saensak Muangsurin's record ended in failure. He challenged Orlando Salido for World Boxing Organization's featherweight title. However, Lomachenko shied from engaging Salido throughout most of the fight, something that his opponent exploited. A late surge, which saw him injure Salido in the final round, was unable to change the final result as Salido won via twelfth round split decision.

Boxing magazines mentioned the conduct of the referee, Salido's dirty boxing and weight issues that are outlined in Orlando Salido vs. Vasyl Lomachenko controversy as contributing factors to Lomachenko's loss.[19][20][21]

Lomachenko vs. Russell, Jr.

On June 22, 2014, Lomachenko defeated Gary Russell Jr. via twelve-round majority decision to win the vacant WBO featherweight title. In doing so he joined Saensak Muangsurin as the only other boxer to have won a world title in the quickest amount of time since turning professional, accomplishing the feat in just his third professional bout.[22]

Lomachenko vs. Piriyapinyo

Lomachenko made his first title defense against mandatory challenger Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo of Thailand. This fight took place on the undercard of the Pacquiao vs. Algieri on HBO PPV bout. Lomachenko handled his opponent easily, hurting him a few times and scoring a knockdown at the end of the fourth round. In the seventh round, Lomachenko stopped using his left hand; it was later confirmed that he injured that hand. Lomachenko won a UD with the scores of 120-107 on all three of the judges' scorecards.[23][24]

Lomachenko vs. Rodriguez, Koasicha

It was announced prior to Lomachenko's mandatory fight against Piriyapinyo that the winner would next fight Puertorican boxer Gamalier Rodriguez. Rodriguez earned the title shot after knocking out Martin Cardona.[25] On May 2, 2015 Lomachenko retained his WBO title against Rodriguez cruising to a ninth-round KO victory on the under-card of Mayweather-Pacquiao. Lomachenko's speed and precision was too much for Rodriguez, who took a knee twice in the fight, once in the seventh and again in the ninth, which ended the bout.[26]

Lomachenko next fought on the Tim Bradley vs. Brandon Rios undercard on HBO against Romelu Koasicha. The fight took place on November 7, 2015. He overwhelmed, dominated and stopped Koasicha in the tenth round on a body shot. In the post fight interview, Lomachenko told of how he wanted to put on a good show, "I was just having fun in there, "If I really wanted to knock him out, I would have done it earlier. I was having a good time, but I knew the end would be on a body shot. I just didn't know which one." Lomachenko earned a career high $750,000 for the fight and out landed Koasicha by 259 punches.[27][28]

Super featherweight

Lomachenko vs. Martinez

Following a third successful defense, Lomachenko, still the reigning WBO featherweight champion decided to move up weight to super featherweight to challenge Roman 'Rocky' Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) for his WBO super featherweight title on June 11 at the Madison Square Garden Theater. Lomachenko became the fastest boxer to win a world title in two weight divisions knocking out Martinez in the 5th round of the world title fight. Lomachenko dominated the fight from the start with superior footwork, hand speed and slick punching from different angles. According to CompuBox research, Lomachenko out-landed Martinez 87 to 34. After the fight, Lomachenko called out Orlando Salido, "Hey Salido, I'm ready to fight you at any time, before the Vargas fight, I told him to win the fight but I never told him I wasn't going to fight him if he didn't, so let's do it. I want to revenge Salido for my fans and give them a win over him."[29]

Lomachenko vs. Walters

After failing to make the fight happen earlier in the year, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti confirmed on September 28 that Lomachenko would defend his WBO title against 30 year old unbeaten Jamaican boxer Nicholas Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on November 26 on HBO.[30]

After Lomachenko dominated the first six rounds with his movement, he threw more combination punches in the sixth which left Walters visibly shaken. Lomachenko won the fight after Walters retired on his stool at the end of the seventh round. Upon returning to his corner, Walters got up and walked to referee Tony Weeks, where he reiterated twice he did not want to continue. A lot of boos followed the confirmation of the fight result as Walters seemed to back himself up for not returning for round 7, blaming his inactivity in the ring, "Listen to me, if I get the chance to fight two or three fights leading up to this fight, I'll definitely take him on in different circumstances where we are more active and definitely beat him but it was all him tonight... he fought me with three fights this year. So it was all him tonight... Nothing take away from him, he's a very good fighter, I learned a lot from fighting him and it was seven rounds of beautiful boxing until my corner decided to end it."[31][32]

Compubox stats showed Lomachenko landed 114 of 437 punches thrown (26 percent) while Walters landed 49 of 264 (19 percent). Lomachenko earned his first $1 million purse. Following the post fight, Arum told ESPN, he would like to make a rematch with Salido next, followed by a lightweight title fight against Terry Flanagan and then a super fight with Manny Pacquiao. The fight drew 761,000 viewers on HBO.[33][34]

Lomachenko vs. Sosa

On February 2, 2017, Bob Arum spoke to ESPN. After failing to make a match up with WBA 'Super' champion Jezreel Corrales, he announced Lomachenko's next fight would take place on April 8 at the MGM National Harbor in Washington, D.C., in a featherweight unification against WBA 'Regular' champion Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs). This would have been Sosa's third defence of his secondary title, but on February 16, he vacated the title.[35][36][37] Lomachenko weighed 129.6 pounds. Sosa weighed in at 130.4 pounds, he then stripped down naked and still over weighed at 130.2 and was given the time to trim the extra weight.[38] He later returned to the Maryland commission’s scale and successfully made weight exactly 130 pounds allowing himself to challenge for the WBO title.[39] The fight headlined HBO “World Championship Boxing”. Lomachenko successfully retained his WBO title for a second time after Sosa failed to return for round 10 when his trainer pulled him out. The bout was similar to Lomachenko's previous fight with Walters, who also pulled out. Lomachenko's flashy style and fast combinations won him the rounds. Sosa appeared more hurt in round 8 when he was hit hard on the body.[40]

Sosa was the most successful opponent Lomachenko had fought since Salido in terms of landing punches. He landed 68 of his 286 thrown (24%). Lomachenko landed 275 of 696 punches (40%). Sosa's trainer, Raul Rivas explained why he pulled him out of the fight, "It was an accumulation of too many punches. I didn't want to get Jason hurt. He was out of the fight." Lomachenko said he wanted to follow this victory by only fighting current world champions at super featherweight for a chance to unify the division or he would move up lightweight.[41] The fight peaked at 886,000 viewers HBO and averaged 832,000 viewers. These numbers showed an increase in viewership for Lomachenko from his last fight on HBO against Walters.[42][43]

Lomachenko vs. Marriaga

On June 30, 2017 Top Rank announced that a deal was in place for Lomachenko to make a third defense of his WBO title against Colombian former featherweight world title challenger Miguel Marriaga (25-2, 21 KOs), who was coming off a loss and moving up to super featherweight. It was confirmed that the fight would take place live on ESPN on August 5, 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.[44] Carl Moretti of Top Rank stated that Salido had initially turned down a $720,000 purse to fight Lomachenko in a rematch. Even after negotiations to meet his financial needs, Salido still denied the offer due to other problems, mentioning weight and hand issues.[45][46]

In front of before 4,102, Lomachenko dominated the fight from the opening bell and proved too much for Marriaga, dropping him twice in the fight, before Marriaga's corner stopped the fight after round 7. Lomachenko retained his WBO title for the third time. The first knockdown came towards the end of the third round when Lomachenko landed a straight left to Marriaga, who was off balance. Marriaga got up straight away and didn't appear hurt. In the fourth round, an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut above Lomachenko's left eye. In the following round, Lomachenko protested to referee Jack Reiss, claiming he was being hit low and headbutted. In the seventh round, Lomachenko landed body shots and uppercuts, eventually dropping Marriaga for the second time with a left hook at 2 minutes and 59 seconds of round 7. Marriaga beat the count and walked towards his corner. The referee waved an end to the fight moments later. Although it was a corner retirement, the CSAC ruled it a KO win.[47] Lomachenko earned a $750,000 purse for the fight, compared to the $50,000 received by Marriaga.[48]

During the post fight interviews, Marriaga praised Lomachenko, "He dominated the fight. I connected with some good punches, but I couldn't get the result I was looking for. I wanted to continue the fight, but my corner stopped the fight. He basically overwhelmed me with pressure." Bob Arum also showed his admiration of Lomachenko, comparing him to former heavyweight world champion and legend Muhammad Ali, who had 27 of his professional fight promoted by Arum. He said "I never saw anything like this. He's unbelievable. Not only does he have the knowledge, he has the skill set that I've never seen before. Fast, reflexes, everything and he really entertains. Who else did that? Muhammad Ali."[49][50]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
10 fights 9 wins 1 loss
By knockout 7 0
By decision 2 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
10 Win 9–1 Colombia Miguel Marriaga RTD 7 (12), 3:00 5 Aug 2017 United States Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, US Retained WBO junior lightweight title
9 Win 8–1 United States Jason Sosa RTD 9 (12), 3:00 8 Apr 2017 United States MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, US Retained WBO junior lightweight title
8 Win 7–1 Jamaica Nicholas Walters RTD 7 (12), 3:00 26 Nov 2016 United States Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, US Retained WBO junior lightweight title
7 Win 6–1 Puerto Rico Román Martínez KO 5 (12), 1:09 11 Jun 2016 United States The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US Won WBO junior lightweight title
6 Win 5–1 Mexico Romulo Koasicha KO 10 (12), 2:35 7 Nov 2015 United States Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US Retained WBO featherweight title
5 Win 4–1 Puerto Rico Gamalier Rodríguez KO 9 (12), 0:50 2 May 2015 United States MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US Retained WBO featherweight title
4 Win 3–1 Thailand Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo UD 12 22 Nov 2014 Macau Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR Retained WBO featherweight title
3 Win 2–1 United States Gary Russell Jr. MD 12 21 Jun 2014 United States StubHub Center, Carson, California, US Won vacant WBO featherweight title
2 Loss 1–1 Mexico Orlando Salido SD 12 1 Mar 2014 United States Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, US For vacant WBO featherweight title
1 Win 1–0 Mexico José Ramírez TKO 4 (10), 2:55 12 Oct 2013 United States Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US Won WBO International featherweight title

References

  1. ↑ Attias, Daniel (9 April 2017). "Lomachenko Is The Matrix". The Fight City. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 Lomachenko lapping up the applause, International Boxing Association (September 14, 2009)
  3. ↑ "Lomachenko determined to be great". Espn.go.vom. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "Pound-for-pound rankings: Pacquiao loses ground, still in top 10". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  5. 1 2 "BoxRec Ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  6. ↑ "P4P | Transnational Boxing Rankings Board". www.tbrb.org. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  7. ↑ "Ratings - The Ring". The Ring. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  8. ↑ "Ratings - The Ring". The Ring. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Junior lightweight: Berchelt continues to dominate elite opponents". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  10. ↑ "RANKINGS | Transnational Boxing Rankings Board". www.tbrb.org. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  11. ↑ "Best of boxing 2016: Vasyl Lomachenko takes home Fighter of the Year award". CBS Sports. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Dec. 28, 2016: Overtime with Jim Lampley (4:15). HBO. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Lomanchenko Named Fighter of the Year by HBO's 'The Fight Game'. BoxingScene. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  14. 1 2 Scott Christ (October 12, 2013). "Bradley vs Marquez results: Vasyl Lomachenko dominates in pro debut". Bad Left Hook.
  15. ↑ "Twitter /Vasyl Lomachenko". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  16. ↑ DAILY RESULTS, International Boxing Association
  17. ↑ "Medallists by weight category" (PDF). AIBA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  18. ↑ Fischer, Doug (3 March 2014). "Vasyl Lomachenko, The WSB and the Record-Keeping Divide". The Ring. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  19. ↑ "Learning Curve: Vasyl Lomachenko proves quality in first pro loss". Bad Left Hook. March 2, 2014.
  20. ↑ "What Vasyl Lomachenko's letdown Saturday means for his future". Yahoo! Sports. March 2, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Referee Laurence Cole discusses Orlando Salido-Vasyl Lomachenko". The Ring. March 6, 2014.
  22. ↑ "BBC Sport - Vasyl Lomachenko wins world title in third pro fight". BBC Sport. June 21, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Lomachenko hurts hand, still tops Piriyapinyo". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  24. ↑ Mazique, Brian. "Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo: Winner, Scorecard, Twitter Reaction". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  25. ↑ "Rodriguez to face lomachenko-piriyapinyo winner". Boxingscene.com. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Result: Vasyl Lomachenko stops Gamalier Rodriguez to defend WBO featherweight title". Sports Mole. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  27. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko stops Romulo Koasicha to remain WBO featherweight world champion | Boxing News". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  28. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko outclasses Romulo Koasicha for KO victory". ESPN. November 8, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Lomachenko KO's Martinez for 130-pound title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  30. ↑ "Lomachenko, Walters agree to bout on Nov. 26". Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  31. ↑ "Nicholas Walters explains decision to quit against Vasyl Lomachenko". Badlefthook.com. November 28, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko dominates stops Nicholas Walters in seven". Boxingscene.com. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Nicholas Walters quits after Vasyl Lomachenko dishes out seven-round boxing lesson". Boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Loma-Walters HBO broadcast views". Boxingscene.com. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Lomachenko expected to defend title vs. Sosa". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  36. ↑ "Lomachenko to Fight Jason Sosa on April 8 Near Washington, D.C. - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  37. ↑ "Jason Sosa Vacates WBA Title Ahead of Lomachenko Title Shot - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  38. ↑ "Lomachenko Weighs 129.6 Pounds; Jason Sosa Misses Weight - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  39. ↑ "Sosa Makes Weight Upon Return; Lomachenko Fight for the Title - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  40. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko Punishes and Stops Jason Sosa - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  41. ↑ "Lomachenko easily handles Sosa to defend belt". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  42. ↑ "Lomachenko on HBO draws 832,000 viewers : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA". mmapayout.com. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  43. ↑ "Lomachenko-Sosa Peaked at 886K Viewers on HBO; Averaged 832K - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  44. ↑ "Lomachenko, Crawford top live cards on ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  45. ↑ "Lomachenko-Marriaga on 8/5, Crawford-Indongo on 8/19 - ESPN - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  46. ↑ "Top Rank Exec: Salido Turned Down $720K for Lomachenko Rematch - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  47. ↑ "Lomachenko Dominates, Drops, Stops Marriaga in Seven - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  48. ↑ "Twitter Reacts To Another Vasyl Lomachenko Masterclass". Boxing News and Views. 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  49. ↑ "Lomachenko toys with Marriaga in TKO win". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  50. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko stops Miguel Marriaga to retain WBO super-featherweight title". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by
Jose Ramirez		 WBO International featherweight champion
12 October 2013 – February 2014
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Marvin Sonsona
World boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Orlando Salido		 WBO featherweight champion
21 June 2014 – 21 July 2016
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Óscar Valdez
Preceded by
Román Martínez		 WBO junior lightweight champion
11 June 2016 – present 		Incumbent
Awards
Previous:
Keith Thurman		 The Ring Prospect of the Year
2013 		Next:
Anthony Joshua
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