FLOYD MAYWEATHER is insistent that Saturdayโs 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 wonโt 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 heโs going to rule the heavyweight division. Gennady Golovkin is an awe-inspiring middleweight but needs high profile opposition and at 33 years old isnโt 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.
โI am surprised because Iโm not there yet,โ he said of his burgeoning reputation. โIโm going to try to do my best, Iโm going to try to show best boxing and then itโs not up to me how Iโm going to go and where Iโm going to go.
โItโs pretty hard people comparing me with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd because they are very well known in boxing and theyโre putting a little bit of pressure on my shoulders, itโs embarrassing because I havenโt done much. So to me itโs a little bit of pressure.โ
The boxing ring though is another world, such thoughts, any pressure evaporates once the bell ring. โIโve been in the ring a hundred times. Nothing changed. You donโt see people from the ring who are watching you and you donโt see how many people are watching you. Youโre 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 Rodriguezโs resistance in nine rounds. โItโs 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. Thatโs 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. โIt depends how youโre looking at that skill, for example Iโm not laying in bed, Iโm not watching TV and walking about just thinking. โOkay Iโm a skilled, I can do anything I want in the ring.โ I work hard. I train hard and I always Iโm always trying to do more than my opponent is doing. So maybe sometimes I even overtrain. I donโt 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.
โFirst of all boxing for me is not just a sport. Boxing is everything. My life, my work, itโs 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.