The great Vasiliy Lomachenko, an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame, fights this Sunday (local time), against Australian warrior George Kambosos Jr in Perth. The vacant IBF lightweight title will be on the line and Lomachenko, at age 36, is looking to add yet more hardware to his resume. However, in a candid interview with Fox Sports Australia, the former pound-for-pound king admits he is “an old man” in lower-weight boxing terms.
Loma, who looked pretty great in his last fight, this a year ago, when he was deemed unlucky by some not to have got the decision victory over Devin Haney, said in the interview how “it’s hard to recover after fights.” Loma’s career has been plagued with injuries, yet he says he feels good going into this weekend’s fight, that he is looking forward to a hard fight against Kambosos.
Lomachenko, 17-3(11) says he feels he “still has a little bit of power,” and that he may have “one, two, or three” years left in the sport, “that’s it.”
The southpaw genius is the favourite to win on Sunday (aside from in Australia, that is), and we fans who appreciate, indeed marvel over Loma’s skills, are looking forward to seeing another masterclass from “The Matrix.”
“If you are talking about ages in boxing, and weight classes, I agree…..I’m [an] old man,” Lomachenko said. “But heavyweight? At 36 a lot of heavyweights can start at this age. But my career is almost done, of course. How many years it’s going to be, one, two, three, that’s it. But I still think I have a little bit of power. It’s a hard question [when will I retire exactly]. At this stage, every fight is hard. It’s hard to recover after fights. I don’t know what will happen with my body after this fight and that’s why I can’t give you an answer to this question [of when I will retire].”
We fans who love watching Loma do his stuff are hoping he can get the win on Sunday and come out healthy and looking ahead to a couple or three more big fights before he’s done. Loma against Shakur Stevenson, for example, could be a real treat to watch. But Kambosos, 21-2(10), will be no pushover, as Lomachenko says himself. Never stopped and beaten only by common opponent Haney, the 30 year old will not want to let his fans down.
We could get a great fight on Sunday, but many of us are expecting, and predicting, a great performance from Lomachenko. And a winning performance. There may not bee too many more to come from this super-special boxer, so let’s all enjoy and appreciate Lomachenko while he’s still here fighting.
