Vasiliy Lomachenko has contacted his promoters at Top Rank and is ready to resume his career for a fight in October against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
Kevin Iole is reporting the news of the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) wanting to return to the ring in October.
Lomachenko, 34, has been defending his country Ukraine from the Russian invasion, and he’s not seen action in 2022 as of yet. In Loma’s last fight, he defeated former IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision last December in New York.
It’s unknown if Lomachenko lost a lot of weight in the war like fellow countryman Oleksandr Usyk. If Loma hasn’t lost muscle weight, he should be able to resume fighting at 135. However, if he’s lost muscle size, it would be an excellent idea for Lomachenko to fight at super featherweight [130] or 126.
After that win, Lomachenko had the opportunity to challenge unified 135-lb champion George Kambosos Jr. for the four belts that he’d lost to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020, but when the war broke out in Ukraine, he opted not to take the fight.
It’ll be interesting to see who Top Rank matches Lomachenko up against in October. Loma will have been out of the ring for ten months, and he should be able to take on a top-level fighter without the need for a tune-up.
Per @ToddDuboef at @trboxing @VasylLomachenko has contacted the company and wants a fight as soon as October. He’s been participating in the war, defending his native Ukraine against the Russian invasion. No opponents discussed at this point. #Loma
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) July 7, 2022
Unfortunately for Lomachenko, undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney is already planning on fighting a rematch with Kambosos, so there’s no chance for Loma to fight for the four belts in October.
WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis could be facing Ryan Garcia in December, so he’s not a realistic option for Lomachenko. Moreover, Mayweather Promotions has never shown any interest in matching Tank Davis against Lomachenko, which has saved their fighter from losing.
Knowing Lomachenko, he’ll want to get a world title shot as soon as possible because he had hoped to avenge his loss to Teofimo Lopez after getting beaten by him. Teofimo, not surprisingly, wanted nothing to do with a rematch with Lomachenko, and instead fought Kambosos and lost his belts.
Options for Lomachenko’s October fight:
- Isaac Cruz
- Shakur Stevenson
- Jamaine Ortiz
- William Zepeda
- Joseph Diaz
- Oscar Valdez
- Michel Rivera
