As fans know, Vasiliy Lomachenko, along with the Klitschko brothers and Oleksandr Usyk, is currently fighting in Ukraine, resisting the ongoing Russian invasion. The sheer bravery these four men have shown – each the epitome of a world champion – has moved millions of people.
All four men are rich and could so easily have avoided the troubles that have engulfed their country, yet instead, they are devoting themselves to Ukraine.
While it’s unclear if heavyweight champ Usyk will box this year, former pound-for-pound king Lomachenko is reportedly close to fighting unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr in June in Australia, in what will be Kambosos’ first title defence. The issue, however, is training. How can Lomachenko possibly train for a fight in Ukraine with all that is going on? He cannot, and therefore his team are making the request that Vasiliy be allowed to leave Ukraine so that he can adequately train for the June 5 fight.
As per an ESPN.com news story, a Kambosos-Lomachenko fight was agreed in principal in February, but that was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now, Kambsos is reportedly closing in on a defence on the June 5 date, be it against Lomachenko or Devin Haney. Reportedly, those officials who will work the June fight need a name to be locked in by the end of March – be it Lomachenko or Haney, or maybe even someone else.
We will now wait and see what happens. Lomachenko, who left Greece to return to Ukraine as soon as the invasion began, is currently serving with a defence battalion at the Ukraine-Russia border. If he can be permitted to leave the country to train for the fight with Kambosos we can safely assume Lomachenko would be motivated like never before.
Kambosos is interested in a fight with Lomachenko as well as one with Haney, so it now seems the decision on who the champion fights will come down to whether or not Vasiliy is permitted to leave Ukraine to train. ESPN reports that, “if there’s no clarity regarding Lomachenko’s ability to leave Ukraine and set up training camp by next week, talks will intensify with Haney.”
If Kambosos does fight Lomachenko, it will take place on a Sunday afternoon in Australia to accommodate a prime-time ESPN telecast on Saturday in the US.
Let’s see who Kambosos ends up facing.
