Lomachenko’s sights on Luke
UKRAINE’S Vasiliy Lomachenko seems to find boxing so easy he might be forgiven for seeking adrenaline kicks – like hunting – outside the ring.
Tomorrow it is Hull’s Luke Campbell who is the latest fighter to have a target on his back when they face off for the WBA, WBO and WBC lightweight titles at the O2 in London.
Campbell will be determined not to become a sitting duck for the champion, who admits he will be relieved to get home next week and get back to hobbies like hunting and fishing.
Pound-for-pound king Lomachenko said: “I started my boxing career very early. I don’t remember the first moment I was in the boxing gym.
“All my life I trained in a boxing gym. I am a man who loves life outside boxing – I have hobbies but I don’t have time for them. I love fishing, I love hunting and drifting.”
Drifting is the motorsport which originated in Japan where drivers oversteer corners to create a different type of race.
It’s an unusual interest for a boxer but Lomachenko is no ordinary fighter in or out of the ring.
“One driver from Ireland, James Deane, he’s an unbelievable driver, a world champion,” he said. “It’s about adrenaline and I love cars.”
Lomachenko is almost frustrated the sport he dominates gets in the way of his hobbies.
But there is no doubt boxing is the main talent of the fighter who amazes every time he steps through the ropes.
He lost just one fight out of 396 as an amateur, a defeat that was avenged twice, and Orlando Salido beat him after a bold bid to become a world champion in his second pro fight.
Since then he became a threeweight world champion inside 12 bouts and now, in his 15th pro fight, he hopes to add the WBC belt to his WBA and WBO lightweight crowns.
The ambition is to become undisputed champion with a fight between the winner of IBF champion Richard Commey and Teofimo Lopez mooted.
Lomachenko added: “My motivation is four belts and history, boxing history.”