Vasiliy Lomachenko

Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko, also spelled Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko (Василь Анатолійович Ломаченко, ; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian professional boxer.

He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes from featherweight to lightweight, including unified and lineal titles at lightweight.

Lomachenko is one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, possessing a record of 396 wins and 1 loss, with that loss avenged twice.

2004

2006

Competing in the featherweight and lightweight divisions, he won a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships, gold at the 2008 European Championships, consecutive gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and consecutive gold at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.

At the 2007 World Championships in Chicago, he won silver by beating Abner Cotto in the first round, Theodoros Papazov, Mikhail Bernadski, Arturo Santos Reyes, and Li Yang in the semifinal to reach fellow southpaw and Russian favorite Albert Selimov, to whom he lost 11–16.

2007

Lomachenko won gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

He beat his five opponents by an astonishing 45 point margin, outscoring them 58–13, en route to his first gold medal at the senior level.

He was subsequently named the outstanding boxer of the tournament and awarded the Val Barker Trophy.

Additionally, he won gold again that year to also become continental champion at the European Championships in Liverpool.

2008

2008

He won gold at the 2009 World Championships in Milan.

2009

He then competed as a lightweight at the 2011 World Championships in Baku after AIBA removed the featherweight division.

There, he won his second consecutive gold medal to become a two-weight world champion.

2011

Following a forced move up to lightweight, he won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London to become a rare two-weight Olympic champion.

He defeated Han Soon-chul of South Korea in the final, 19–9, and was a strong candidate to win the Val Barker Trophy for a second time in what would have historically been an unprecedented feat.

Ultimately, he was edged out by welterweight gold medal winner, Serik Sapiyev, of Kazakhstan.

He finished his extensive amateur career with an impressive record of 396 wins and only 1 loss, to Albert Selimov, which was avenged twice.

2012

Making his professional debut in 2013, Lomachenko tied the record with Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin for winning a world title in the fewest professional fights, becoming the WBO featherweight champion in his third fight.

He is known for his exceptional hand speed, timing, accuracy, creativity, athleticism, defence and footwork.

He has won several awards by media outlets throughout his career.

The Ring magazine and ESPN named him Prospect of the Year in 2013; CBS Sports named him Boxer of the Year in 2016; HBO Sports named him Boxer of the Year in 2016 and in 2017; and the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring named him Fighter of the Year in 2017.

As of January 2023, Lomachenko is ranked as the world's seventh best active boxer, pound for pound, by The Ring.

He is also ranked as the world's second best active lightweight by The Ring and ESPN, third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fourth by BoxRec.

Lomachenko was coached by his father Anatoly Lomachenko from a young age.

He claims that if his father had not been a boxing coach he probably would have chosen to play ice hockey professionally.

Prior to turning professional, Lomachenko competed in the lightweight division of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) from January to May 2013.

Some outlets would later claim that the six fights Lomachenko had in this tournament should have counted towards his professional record, due to WSB being professional boxing by law, with no headgear and rounds being scored using the ten-point must system according to the regulations set by professional boxing commissions that license the boxers, promoters, and officials.

After winning his second Olympic gold medal, Lomachenko made the decision to turn professional.

According to Bob Arum in 2017, Lomachenko's father did not let him train for boxing until he attended traditional Ukrainian dance classes.

He then went on to gymnastics before finally getting into the ring.

In November 2017, boxing website The Sweet Science conducted a readers' poll, which ran for several weeks, to determine the amateur boxer regarded by the public majority as the all-time best.

Alongside Lomachenko, the five other standout finalists selected were: László Papp, Teófilo Stevenson, Félix Savón, Mark Breland, and Guillermo Rigondeaux.

While none were able to claim the majority vote, Lomachenko won a plurality, having led the poll with nearly one-third of the total votes cast.