Lomachenko sets sights on history
Ukrainian goes for title in second weight class
NEW YORK Over and over, a red signal flashes on a 2x4 white board, and Vasyl Lomachenko must reach out and touch it before the light dissipates.
Andrey Kolosov, Lomachenko’s longtime sports psychologist, oversees the 40- to 50-minute sessions (squeezed in between a 5 a.m. power walk, lunchtime swim and late-afternoon boxing workout) designed to improve the fighter’s reaction time and increase dexterity.
That’s in addition to therapy sessions to ensure Lomachenko stays calm during a 12-round fight and can force his will on his opponent; that he executes the game plan created by father-trainer Anatoly, who led the 2012 Ukrainian men’s Olympic team to five gold medals.
The 28-year-old flies Kolosov from Ukraine to Oxnard, Calif., for each two-month training camp, a vital cog in the machine that is “the greatest boxer in the world,” according to his Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.
Lomachenko is a cerebral fighter (he has a college degree in physical education) and is considered arguably the greatest amateur boxer of all time. He compiled an incredible 396-1 record and avenged his lone defeat twice. A tattoo commemorating the 2008 Beijing Games adorns his left biceps, and matching ink on the other biceps marks the 2012 Games in London, keepsakes of his gold-medal-winning efforts.
When it was time to turn pro, the diminutive man with boyish looks and bright, blue eyes didn’t demand a massive signing bonus from Arum, which stunned the 84-year-old. All Lomachenko wanted was a promise: to fight for a world title in his pro debut.
Arum couldn’t deliver — no sanctioning body would rate a boxer without a single fight on his ledger — but he did the next-best thing: a title fight vs. Orlando Salido for fight No. 2.
“Anything can happen in a fight. The fighter needs to control his emotions,” Lomachenko, who is taking English classes three times a week, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday through adviser Egis Klimas. “(Evander) Holyfield put (Mike) Tyson in the place where he bit his ear. But if Tyson knew how to control himself in the fight, it wouldn’t happen. (Kolosov is) teaching me how to control my emotions.”
The sessions with Kolosov must work, because Lomachenko never lost his cool against Salido despite the countless fouls and shots below the belt. Lomachenko also didn’t let the loss deter him, bouncing back to win a featherweight title in his next bout, a meeting against a far better fighter in Gary Russell Jr.
With only six fights under his belt, Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KOs) will look to make history Saturday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden when he takes on junior lightweight beltholder Rocky Martinez (10 p.m. ET, HBO) in an attempt to become the fastest to win a title in a second weight class.
“I am going to spoil the Puerto Rican fans’ weekend,” said Lomachenko, who plays hockey, fishes and drag races around Ukraine in his white 2013 Mercedes AMG C63 when he’s not in training. “They will feel very let down.”
Martinez will have the fans behind him fighting on Puerto Rican Day parade weekend, but he’s a sizable underdog, and it’s a good bet Lomachenko knocks the veteran out. Arum sees titles at 135, 140 pounds and maybe even 147 in his future.
Lomachenko is a sight to behold in the ring if you know what to look for. He sets combinations up beautifully with feints and deft footwork. The 130-pound southpaw is a devastating puncher, but he’s never reckless. He’s a fighter who truly seems destined for a spot in the Hall of Fame one day, despite six fights on his résumé.
It’s his will to be perfect that is most impressive. How many fighters would work tirelessly with a psychologist camp after camp? (Klimas, who also manages light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, doubts he would do the same.) How many boxers would offer a large cut of his purse to the winner simply to set up a big fight?
Lomachenko offered to put $300,000 from his proposed purse into a winner’s pot for a showdown with Nicholas Walters, but the Jamaican wanted more money.
It’s the kind of big fight that has eluded Lomachenko, but Arum says somehow, some way, he’ll make the fight.
“I have never seen anybody with the technical prowess that this kid has except maybe for (Muhammad) Ali in the ’ 60s before the draft where Ali was a consummate artist in the ring,” Arum told USA TODAY Sports. “Lomachenko is not just a boxer, he’s an artist. I want people to watch him, to see what an artist he is. This is like Picasso. Picasso started painting; it was different and so forth. It took time for people to warm up. He is Picasso in the ring. He does things other fighters have never done.”
Lomachenko’s best attributes are his command of balance and distance, Arum pointed out, and it’s no surprise. Lomachenko told his father he wanted to box growing up, and that was fine, but there was a catch. Before he could receive permission to lace up the gloves, Anatoly mandated five years of gymnastics and ballet.
It’s no surprise that Lomachenko’s footwork is so graceful.
Arum says he’s motivated to prove how great Lomachenko is. It’s something Arum has been passionate about for at least three years. It seems time has only increased his appreciation.
“My job is to convince people to take a look and evaluate what they’re seeing,” said Arum, who compared Lomachenko to Floyd Mayweather Jr. several times. “Very frankly, my big job is to get the networks — HBO and Showtime — to realize what they have in Lomachenko.”
It’s only a matter of time before the fans see what Arum sees.