VASILY Lomachenko is one of the most unique stylists to have graced the ring in recent years. An unmatched amateur stint, laden with gold medals, followed by multiple world titles as a professional, the Ukrainian never ducked a challenge.
Now that the southpaw savant has retired, Boxing News catches up with two boxers who attempted to solve the puzzle at various stages, a coach of a third fighter, plus a key member of the team who got to know the intricacies of a true pro as he contested world titles from the very early stages of his illustrious career. Rob Tebbutt met them…
THE AMATEUR BOXER
Prior to his multi-decorated professional career, Lomachenko was possibly the greatest amateur boxer of all time, losing just one of nearly 400 bouts. So, facing him in the unpaid code was no small task, either – as Liverpool’s Sam Maxwell found out when he faced ‘The Matrix’ twice in a two-month spell in 2013, failing to win a round on either occasion.
BN: What was it like getting the call to face Lomachenko?
It was in the World Series of Boxing [WSB] against the Ukrainian team, the Otamans, and I remember Lomachenko hadn’t taken part in it yet. I was supposed to be facing one of the other Ukrainian guys, so I checked him out on video and thought “I’ve definitely got the beating of him”.
So, we head over to Kiev and we’re sat there waiting for the weigh-in. We’re waiting for about an hour and they’ve got all cameras and all this set-up and we’re sat there thinking “why are they doing this now?”.
Then, Lomachenko comes in with this big crew around him, Team Otaman tracksuits, and one of the lads goes: “Sam, you’re fighting him.”
I said: “No chance! They wouldn’t do that to me!? I’m fighting this lad called Rudenko! Like, no chance on the day I’m going to be fighting Lomachenko!”
Then their general manager comes over and says: “I’m sorry, Rudenko, he’s not feeling well. He has flu, but Lomachenko, he said he will fight instead of Rudenko. You want to take it?”
Then he [Lomachenko] got on the scales and he was ripped to death. There’s no way you just knew about it! [Laughs]
I think they knew that if someone knew they were fighting Lomachenko, they might not turn up!
BN: What did it mean to you at the time to face Lomachenko?
He just had that massive aura. For me, I was new to the international scene, to the elite scene – I’d only been there for maybe half a year – but all of the lads around me, they were in awe of him.
You look around and everyone’s looking at him. We say this about the Cuban team as well; they’ve got a similar kind of aura. When the Cuban team walks in, everyone just looks and talks and says, “Look, there’s so-and-so!”, and Lomachenko had that kind of aura. When he walks in, everyone stops doing what they’re doing and looks at him.
BN: How soon did you realise you were in with something special?
Even just waiting in the ring, his song came on – “The Champ Is Here!” – it was unreal. I remember thinking, “What a sick tune!”, and I’m standing in the ring thinking “I’m fighting him now!” [laughs]
The first round, I come out fast, one-twos, and just nothing is landing. He’s winning the round and he hasn’t thrown a shot! It’s been a minute, he’s not thrown one shot, but he’s he’s winning! That’s how good he is. He hasn’t done anything other than feint, have a look, move around, reposition. He’s not thrown one shot — I’ve maybe thrown 20 shots — but he’s winning! It was unreal.
Then, later in the round, he’ll do the same thing as he did earlier; make me miss and then he’d just just hit me. He knew where I was going to be and what I was going to do before I knew myself!
He knew “If I do this, Sam’s gonna jab”, then boom! He counters the jab before I even know I’m throwing it. He could just read me straight away; he knew everything. He took about a minute to suss me out, and then he just took over. His punch power isn’t crazy, but it’s good, clean power. He’s just so accurate, too. He doesn’t miss.
BN: What was his most impressive attribute?
His footwork and his angles. He’d be in front of me, and I know I can get him – he’s in range – and then I’ll throw a shot and he’ll be around the side of me.
I don’t even understand how he could do something like that, at that speed. It was just unreal. His defensive abilities, and how he used them to set up his attacks as well. Everything – his punch accuracy, his footwork, his angles, his feints, his ring knowledge, his positioning – unreal.
With that first fight, he hurt me a few times to the body. I think it was the fourth round, I was looking to the corner thinking “Pull me out! Pull me out, Dave [Alloway]!” I get back to the corner, but he just put the gumshield back in and said “Crack on, son!”
I was gassed, I was finished. Lomachenko battered me in the fourth round, dropped me to the body. The fifth round, he came out and I thought “He’s going to finish me here”, and then he just took it easy on me. He could have smashed me to pieces, but he just carried me through. I don’t know why he did it, but I respect him so much for that. He could have taken me out with ease, but he showed a bit of mercy.
BN: How does Lomachenko compare to other fighters you’ve faced? Is he the best?
Definitely, and I boxed him at 63kg as well, so he shouldn’t have even been at that weight.
Even though I had the size and height on him, it was still just next level. He’s the best I’ve ever been in with, and I’ve been in with some big lads and top lads, but Lomachenko was just different.
When you can’t hit someone, that’s what breaks you. Getting hit is not as bad if you can hit them, but if they can hit you and you can’t hit them, it just breaks you. It’s so demoralising, and that’s what Lomachenko was like. He was in your face, right there in range, and you can’t hit him.
BN: What was it like being a part of the now-iconic Lionhearts vs Otamans match-up at York Hall back in March 2023?
It was unreal. And because he’s such a superstar, they had more support than us in London. It’s crazy!
In Kiev, the crowds are different. They sit down, the lights are on and they clap. It’s a bit weird. Every time you get, hit there’s a little clap. But in London, it was different. I was getting booed. It was all about Ukraine. It was a crazy atmosphere. That just shows what kind of superstars they are. They can travel anywhere and get that kind of response from people.
I’m so lucky, and to have boxed him in Kiev, in his own country, as well, I feel lucky. I got to fight one of the greatest fighters of all time, and arguably the greatest amateur boxer of all time. I’m proud to have shared that moment with him at his peak. They’re great memories that will live with me forever.
THE PROFESSIONAL CHAMPION
The first Brit to face Lomachenko as a professional found him to be in a particularly destructive mood. Manchester’s Anthony Crolla challenged him for the WBA, WBO and lineal lightweight championship in Los Angeles in April 2019 and found that, even as a former WBA titleholder himself, he had never faced anyone quite like Lomachenko.
BN: How did you feel when the Lomachenko fight was made?
I was made up. It was a world title shot, I was fighting the pound-for-pound number one at the time – and I was well aware of the task.
I remember one of my mates ringing me – this is a guy who went to all of my fights – and he started laughing! “Croll, seriously? How are you going to beat him?” and I was a bit like, “f***ing hell, mate!” Do you know what I mean? Like, it is funny and I laughed after it.
It was always a massive ask, but I thought: “Well, is he really a lightweight?” He possibly could have made super-feather, and I felt strong at the weight. I just thought I can drag him into my kind of fight. Obviously, I couldn’t!
It was just excitement. It was my Cinderella story of me going to shock the world and putting my name up in lights. That’s what I genuinely believed at the time. Obviously, it looks like a bit stupid now, but at the time, that’s the mentality a fighter has, isn’t it?
BN: What was the gameplan going in?
To try and box off him. We watched the [Jose] Pedraza fight, and he [Pedraza] made him fall short a lot. So, we wanted to make him over-commit, make him miss, and see if he stands his ground a little bit more and I can try and implement my gameplan of getting close to him.
But he just gauged distance so quickly. When I tried to get close, I couldn’t get anywhere near him because he was a master at controlling distance. I’m big enough to accept I might have never got near him, but if I would have got the chance again, I’d look to pressure him a little bit more.
BN: How soon did you realise you were in with someone special?
Very quickly; probably towards the end of the first round. It was his distance control, it was unbelievable. He also hit a little bit harder than I expected, and he didn’t waste anything.
When he started to go through the gears at the end of the first round, I thought, “Oh, s***!”. I thought: “This is hard as it is: and I know he’s literally in second gear.”
Even with Jorge [Linares, who Crolla had fought twice], he’s a fantastic fighter, a beautiful technician, and I think his fight with Lomachenko was just two masters at work. It was really nice to watch. But with Jorge, even though the second fight he beat me well, I felt I could still walk forward and look to get shots off.
With Lomachenko, there was that constant worry of “f***, if I miss, I’m getting punished.” You start to think about being made to look stupid. Fighters become demoralised. That’s why I think he made so many fighters quit, because he brings good fighters down and makes them feel extremely average.
I also think I think I got one of the last really ruthless Lomachenkos. He was out to make a statement. After Pedraza, he had a little bit of criticism and I think it was like: “Yeah, I’m going to show you.” And he did that and more!
BN: What did he do that impressed you the most?
He was very economical. He wasted very, very little. When I watch it back now, I can see him setting traps and see how he makes you think. He’ll see that you’re moving off one way, and he lets you get away with it once or twice, then – bang! – he’s pounced and hit you with a shot or a combination.
I always remember speaking to Russ Anber, years before it ever looked like I might fight Lomachenko, and he said to me, “This guy [Lomachenko] is the best I’ve ever come across. He sees moves 10 steps ahead.” He just had that unbelievable ring IQ.
BN: What do you remember of the knockout?
I’ve never been knocked out like that in my life.
You know, people kept asking me if I was all right and I was saying, “It wasn’t even a bad stoppage, what are you talking about?” I knew exactly where I was, but I just I couldn’t move.
I was back in the dressing room and everyone is there, all concerned, and it’s just silence. Then Eddie Hearn just sort of went “It was pretty bad, you know, Croll…” and I went “No, it wasn’t!” Because I remembered everything. I wasn’t out cold.
Anyway, I said to William [Crolla, his brother] “Here, Will, pass my phone…” I swear I watched the knockout and it just didn’t look how I thought it was going to look! I didn’t know I was going to be face down on the floor! I’m trying to move around the canvas and I’m trying to lift my head up, but I couldn’t move!
BN: Was he the best fighter you ever shared the ring with?
Oh yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. I shared the ring, even in sparring, with some great fighters and future Hall of Famers, but yeah, there’s no doubt, he’s definitely the best fighter I ever shared a ring with.
BN: What was the experience like for you?
The experience was amazing. You know what? It’s great to say I shared the ring with him. The amount of people who come up to say, “Oh, you fought Lomachenko!”. Yeah, it wasn’t the best night, and I can’t pretend I would have ever beat him, but the only thing I wish is that I had a bit more success!
But, again, I can also say he was levels and levels above me. Levels and levels above. Styles make fights. I was made for him, and he was the exact opposite for me!
It was a special time. That night, I realised I got to share the ring with greatness.
THE BOXING COACH
Image, as a trainer, being tasked with finding a strategy to beat one of the sharpest boxing brains the sport has ever seen. That was the assignment handed to Shane McGuigan when his charge, Luke Campbell of Hull, challenged Lomachenko for his world lightweight championships in London in August 2019.
BN: What was it like preparing for Lomachenko?
Luckily, I was working with an Olympic gold medalist who had great fundamentals with great footwork and length on his punches. I felt the way to beat Lomachenko would have been more on the outside, because if you just attacked him when he was in his pomp, he would have spun you in circles and outworked you.
As you [later] saw with Haney, who got the victory over him at the end of his career, he stabbed the jab well and he and he stayed on the basics. He used his length and size and to get the victory, so that was our initial structure of how to go into it.
It’s tough to prepare for a guy like Lomachenko, who’s slick and has ridiculous movement. He’s very unorthodox and you can’t get sparring partners to replicate his style. You can get people to throw similar combinations, maybe mimic the movement, but they can’t throw like he can off those movements. It’s a very complicated task to try and prepare for him – it was always going to be an uphill struggle.
BN: How quickly into the fight did you realise you were up against something special?
I’ve watched a lot of really good fighters up close, and I’ve worked with many, many good fighters, and Lomachenko is definitely up there. I think he’s probably the best fighter I’ve seen up close. For a guy that transitions from long to short, he doesn’t load up with any of his attacks, but he’s got enough power to keep you switched on.
He can turn the screw in an instant; his movement is phenomenal. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Luke caught him with a great looping backhand – very similar to the shot that he caught Ryan Garcia with – and hit him bang on the chin within the first couple of minutes of the fight, but he never found that shot again.
Then he caught him with a good bolo shot to the body in the seventh or eighth, but as soon as Lomachenko got hurt or remotely hurt, he was phenomenal at just taking that next attack away from you.
Most fighters, they’re either better on the back foot or the front foot. Then your really good guys, they’re good on the front foot and they’re decent on the back foot or vice versa – but he is literally exceptional at both. He created great angles on the inside, didn’t load up with his combinations and he always picked the right shot to land.
We realised we were looking for a puncher’s chance after about four or five rounds. Obviously, you can stick to it and try and walk him on to a shot, but Luke’s not a guy that’s just going to go in there swinging from his boots. He’s very calculated. Luke did have some success, but every time he got any form of momentum, it was taken away from him very quickly.
BN: Did he do anything that surprised you or that you weren’t expecting?
No, because I remember watching him at the Olympics in 2012 and I studied his fights as far back as the 2007 World Amateur Championships in Chicago. I had all of those fights on DVD when I was boxing and he was someone I always looked up to. I never tried to replicate it for myself or for my fighters, because it’s a unique style. I also watched him against Sam Maxwell in the World Series of Boxing at York Hall and he was phenomenal.
I thought he would have punched a little bit harder, but he ripped the body really well. I think, trajectory-wise, he knocked out Anthony Crolla, who had a good chin, but Crolla was a bit shorter, so Lomachenko can generate his power by turning his hooks down. He couldn’t really get any of those shots off against Luke because he [Campbell] is so tall, but he ripped to the body really well.
BN: You said he’s probably the best fighter you’ve seen up close. Do you think Lomachenko gets enough credit from the boxing community?
Absolutely not.
I think if he’d have turned pro after he won gold at Beijing in 2008, he would have gone on to be the greatest fighter of all time. [But] I think he would have gone on too long, as the likes of Roy Jones Jr did. Obviously, businessmen like Mayweather never allowed themselves to have a decline, but you’ve got some phenomenal fighters like James Toney, Roy Jones Jr and Sugar Ray Leonard that went on too long and that tarnished their career a little bit.
Because Lomachenko started so late in the pro game, he tried to fast-track things and ended up with an early loss [to Orlando Salido]. Then he had a few losses at the end of his career that he should never have been getting. I thought he beat Haney, but he should never have those losses on his resume anyway, because, if he was anywhere near his heyday, he would have destroyed those guys.
BN: Although the fight ended in defeat, are you proud to have come up against a fighter like Lomachenko?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, it’s the pinnacle of the sport, isn’t it? It was for three of the four belts, so to get to that level in this sport is what fighters set out in their career to do – and coaches do too. So, to be able to be involved in those sort of fights – and, of course, it’s always nicer to get the win! – is what it’s all about.
I think, in time, I will reflect and look back at it as an achievement, for sure.
THE INSIDER
As Lomachenko’s cutman and an integral part of Lomachenko’s inside circle, Russ Anber was not only instrumental in his successes but also got rare insight into the mind and the man.
BN: Do you remember when you first came across Vasily Lomachenko?
The first time I watched Vasily, he was a junior as an amateur. I had guys that were on the Canadian national team that were going to tournaments and they would come back and say to me, “Russ, there’s this kid, Lomachenko…”
Let me give you an idea how good this kid is; amateurs, who were scheduled to fight, would leave their dressing room because this kid is boxing. That’s the way it was when Roy [Jones Jr] was fighting. You go to a tournament and you’re in the dressing room, but you know Roy’s bout is next, so you come out of the dressing room to watch him fight. A lot of fighters don’t do that, they stay in their dressing room. They’re worried about their fight, they’re not worried about
somebody else. So, there was talk of this kid, Lomachenko, who’s just a phenomenon.
BN: How did you start working together?
I was in Montreal and [Lomachenko’s manager] Egis Klimas called me up and said, “Russ, I need some help. You were recommended to me as somebody who could wrap hands. Would you like to come and wrap Vasily? He’s having some issues with his hands.”
I said: “Sure, my pleasure. I’m going to be in The Bell Centre for Jean Pascal – ” because he’s fighting Kovalev that night, and Egis managed Kovalev, “ – so I’m going to be at the venue about 3pm. Can you come by?”
So, Lomachenko came into Jean Pascal’s dressing room, ironically, and I wrapped him up. He tried gloves on, he liked what he saw, and invited me to his next fight in Las Vegas. I went there, did the fight and when we got back to the dressing room, he turned to me and stuck out his hand and said, “Welcome to Team Lomachenko!” and I’ve been there ever since.
It was really nice to do that and to be part of the history that he left. I hope boxing recognises the greatness they had before their eyes in Lomachenko, because sometimes you don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. I have never seen a talent like him. I saw Sugar Ray Leonard, I saw Roy Jones Jr, but this is another type of talent we got to witness. You don’t get to see that all the time and I hope boxing remembers just how great he was.
BN: What was he like in camp? How was he to work with?
He was a consummate professional in the gym. He always seemed to be happy to be in the gym, even when he was complaining about what his father wanted him to do. He took it in his stride and laughed about it. “My father, he make me work!”
But he said something to me, and it stayed with me. He said, “Russ, I can train 24 hours a day,” and it stayed with me so much that I reiterated this to him maybe a month prior to him announcing his retirement. I said to him, “Vasily, do you remember when you told me that? Please, if you don’t feel that way anymore, don’t fight again. Don’t let them use you. Don’t let them try to use you as a stepping stone. If you don’t feel you can do that again, and have that joy and passion you had when you were in the gym, then don’t do it.”
Even when he complained, he was always in a good mood in the gym, because he loved to do it. Even the simplest of exercises, he had to be better at it. If he learned to juggle, he developed another routine that was even more difficult. He just had to be the best at everything he did.
I think there’s a certain sense of disappointment that, maybe, the people didn’t realise just how great he was – or if they did, they never gave him the credit for it.
BN: Were you surprised he decided to retire?
No. He was very, very, very hurt emotionally – in his heart, in his soul – after the Devin Haney fight. I think that bothered him, because he had lived such a clean life, an honest life and he was dedicated to his craft. He always conducted himself with class and he didn’t get a fair shake in what should have been the crowning moment of his career: becoming undisputed champion of the world.
He did everything he was supposed to do. He fought a guy who was literally three weight classes bigger than him. When Haney got in the ring, he was 160lbs and Lomachenko was 142lbs.
He never got to have that moment like he did with his Olympic moments. That should have been the crowning moment.
So, he took some time off after that to regroup, and, knowing he’s not going to go out on a loss, he stepped up against [George] Kambosos, who, technically, he should have fought [in 2022] for the undisputed title until the war [in Ukraine] broke out.
BN: Explain the influence of Anatoly Lomachenko, aka ‘Papachenko’?
For him to do what he did with his son, and stay with him the entire distance, to me that speaks volumes.
A lot of credit has to be given to Papachenko, not only in what he did with his son, but his contribution to the Ukrainian national programme. When you think about guys who came out of that – [Oleksandr] Gvozdyk, [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Denis] Berinchyk – you have to give Anatoly credit for what he has done as a trainer.
I think the most important thing is not just his knowledge of boxing, but the fact that he was still able to be the boss of a fighter who’s your son — which, today, is almost impossible. In this day and age, it’s usually the fighter calling the shots.
No matter if you have two Olympic gold medals, three world championships, all of the talent – and you know there’s a certain ego that went with that – Papachenko was still the boss.
BN: When do you think was prime Lomachenko as a professional?
Those four consecutive ‘No màs!’ fights, back-to-back – [Nicholas] Walters, [Jason] Sosa, [Miguel] Marriaga and [Guillermo] Rigondeaux. You could probably count on two hands the number of times he got hit in those four fights. That was prime Lomachenko; that’s when he was at his best.
BN: What is Lomachenko like away from the gym? What is he like as a person?
He’s a man of conviction. He’s a patriot. He loves his country. He loves his family. He’s a man of faith. He’s just a classy individual all the way around and I don’t have one bad word to say about him.
I’ll never forget this gesture – after I worked that first fight with him in Las Vegas, we had the next fight come up a short time after that, and when I got there, he called me to his room and he gave me his Olympic tie with the Ukrainian colours, because he noticed I wore a tie in the corner for his previous fight. He gave me that. That’s his Olympic tie, you know? Olympic uniform!
He gave me that because he noticed that I wore a tie for the fighters because I’m here to respect what you do and I respect the sport of boxing. He saw that and he gave that to me. To me, it was worth more than a than if he’d given me a Rolex – because he didn’t buy this. It was his and he gave it to me. I’ve worn that tie for every fight him and Usyk have ever had since, and I’ll continue to do so.
