Vasiliy Lomachenko has called time on his boxing career, announcing his retirement at the age of 37. The Ukrainian boxing maestro walks away from the sport as a three-weight world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
"I'm grateful for every victory and defeat inside the ring and outside the ring. I'm thankful that as my career comes to an end, I've gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory, not just in the ring," – Lomachenko stated in his Instagram video posted on Thursday.
The boxing genius hangs up his gloves with an impressive professional record of 18-3, with his last bout coming in May 2024 when he stopped George Kambosos Jr in the 11th round. Throughout his career, only three men managed to get the better of him – Orlando Salido, Teofimo Lopez, and Devin Haney.
Lomachenko's journey to greatness began long before his professional days. He amassed an almost perfect amateur record of 396-1 before turning pro and remarkably claimed the WBO world featherweight title in just his third professional fight by defeating Gary Russell Jr via majority decision in June 2014.
By the way, his championship collection didn't stop there. Two years later, he added the WBO junior lightweight title by beating Roman Martinez, and in 2018, he stopped tough Venezuelan Jorge Linares to secure The Ring and WBA lightweight belts.
What made Lomachenko special wasn't just his collection of belts. His footwork was something from another dimension – quick, precise, and utterly confusing for opponents. Combined with lightning-fast hands, this earned him nicknames like "The Matrix" and "Hi-Tech." He was nearly impossible to hit cleanly.
Perhaps one of the most telling stats about his dominance? Between November 2016 and December 2017, Lomachenko forced four consecutive opponents to quit – Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga, and Guillermo Rigondeaux all threw in the towel. In boxing, where quitting carries a stigma worse than almost anything else, that's remarkable.
Interestingly, Lomachenko's unique style can be traced back to his childhood. Trained by his father Anatoly from age four, young Vasiliy was sent to learn traditional Ukrainian dancing at age nine. For four years, he perfected these moves before returning to boxing – explaining his exceptional balance and footwork that bewildered opponents throughout his career.
The father-son duo developed unconventional training methods too, including breath-holding underwater (Lomachenko's record is an astonishing four minutes and 20 seconds) and solving complex math problems to sharpen mental acuity.
As Lomachenko steps away from the squared circle, boxing loses one of its most technically gifted practitioners. Will we ever see another fighter with his unique combination of skills and artistry? That seems unlikely, at least for quite some time.
