How Vasiliy Lomachenko Won Hearts without Fighting

It takes a mountain of courage to call quits on one of the most important fights of your career to fight for your country. That’s exactly what Vasiliy Lomachenko did when he left to defend Ukraine.

The proud Ukrainian boxer and an Olympic gold medalist was supposed to fight to get back multiple titles around his waist. It was a match against George Kambosos for major lightweight unification.

It came all over sports news that Lomachenko had cancelled his plans of fighting to be in his country when Russia invaded Ukraine. He did it and never blinked twice at this decision.

Lomachenko in Ukraine

He got the support of his family at a decisive time in his career. What he did next was something out of a novel. He took the road to reach Ukraine because there were no flights available due to the war.

While he could just go there and be a part of any efforts, he chose to fight. He became one of the soldiers to pick up a weapon and defend his country.

During this time, Lomachenko wasn’t facing the threats of boxing but something more dangerous i.e. bombs. According to him, he along with his fellows had to hide in shelters several times to save their lives.

Many have called him the next Muhammad Ali due to this decision because Ali did the same to bring troops back from the Vietnam War.

Lomachenko Is Back Now

The much-awaited boxer has finally given a clear indication that he is coming back into the ring to fight. He is ready to take his shot at claiming back the titles that belonged to him once.

The journey has begun yet again with his first fight after the inaction with Jamaine Ortiz. There is mutual respect between the two fighters as they admit their strengths in the ring.

However, there is something more that makes their boxing match even more interesting. It is that the two have had many instances of sparring with each other.

In a way, many critics claim that Ortiz knows more about Lomachenko than most other opponents he has faced in the past.