Can Vasyl Lomachenko take over from Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao?

vasyl lomachenko vs Jorge Linares fight time

FLOYD MAYWEATHER is insistent that Saturdayโ€™s fight with Andre Berto wil be his last. Manny Pacquiao โ€“ with the help of God and sea water โ€“ is expected to recover and be back next year, though even Pacman wonโ€™t be able to carry on at top level for too much after 2016. It will leave the world waiting for a new star to dominate boxing.

Deontay Wilder has charisma, punch power but has a long way to go in terms of technical skill if heโ€™s going to rule the heavyweight division. Gennady Golovkin is an awe-inspiring middleweight but needs high profile opposition and at 33 years old isnโ€™t blessed with time to waste.

Perhaps then marvelous Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko could be the man to inherit the mantle of Mayweather and Pacquiao. His professional record may be humble, a mere four wins against one controversial defeat but his achievements are not. Lomachenko is already the holder of the WBO featherweight title, as an amateur he was a two-weight Olympic and World champion and, with the potential to move up in weight too, he is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport.

โ€œI am surprised because Iโ€™m not there yet,โ€ he said of his burgeoning reputation. โ€œIโ€™m going to try to do my best, Iโ€™m going to try to show best boxing and then itโ€™s not up to me how Iโ€™m going to go and where Iโ€™m going to go.

โ€œItโ€™s pretty hard people comparing me with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd because they are very well known in boxing and theyโ€™re putting a little bit of pressure on my shoulders, itโ€™s embarrassing because I havenโ€™t done much. So to me itโ€™s a little bit of pressure.โ€

The boxing ring though is another world, such thoughts, any pressure evaporates once the bell ring. โ€œIโ€™ve been in the ring a hundred times. Nothing changed. You donโ€™t see people from the ring who are watching you and you donโ€™t see how many people are watching you. Youโ€™re still in the same ring,โ€ he reflects.

His last outing was on the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard, where he took his time to work through his repertoire and ultimately prise apart Gamalier Rodriguezโ€™s resistance in nine rounds. โ€œItโ€™s an opportunity for me to show to the fans, to show to the boxing world what I can do in the ring, how I can fight. Thatโ€™s another opportunity for me to show to the fans besides Mayweather and Pacquiao another good upcoming talent, Vasyl Lomachenko,โ€ he said.

He is known as a supreme talent but Lomachenko laid out his methods for success. โ€œIt depends how youโ€™re looking at that skill, for example Iโ€™m not laying in bed, Iโ€™m not watching TV and walking about just thinking. โ€˜Okay Iโ€™m a skilled, I can do anything I want in the ring.โ€™ I work hard. I train hard and I always Iโ€™m always trying to do more than my opponent is doing. So maybe sometimes I even overtrain. I donโ€™t know any other person who has talent doing nothing and just goes and gets what he wants. The skills and the talent come first from hard work.

โ€œFirst of all boxing for me is not just a sport. Boxing is everything. My life, my work, itโ€™s not just a sport.โ€

What he needs now are the best fights available. Orlando Salido, who beat him, and Gary Russell Jnr, against whom he won the title, were good matches but since then Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo and Rodriguez were underwhelming opponents. Lomachenko has made it clear he wants to take on the other world titlists in his division. That’s exactly what he needs.

Share Page