There was a brief moment where those responsible for mapping out Vasiliy Lomachenko’s future suggested a return to the 130-pound division.
It was considered after Lomachenko’s competitive but clear defeat to Teofimo Lopez in their October 2020 lightweight title unification bout in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez prevailed by a well-earned unanimous decision—despite absurdly wide scores on two cards—to force Lomachenko to accept defeat for the first time since his second pro bout. It ended his stay as a three-division titlist, which included previous reigns at featherweight and junior lightweight.
At 5’7” and having begun his career at featherweight, Lomachenko has often found himself as the smaller man at lightweight. Still, there remains unfinished business for the 35-year-old Ukrainian southpaw—which is why he remained at lightweight long enough to now challenge Devin Haney for the undisputed championship.
“After the Lopez loss, I could have gone down (in weight) and fight,” Lomachenko stated during the first part of ESPN’s Blood, Sweat & Tears: Haney vs. Lomachenko series which premiered Sunday. “But I can’t because I lose at lightweight. Lightweight took my dream, took my goal. I can’t change.
Haney (29-0, 15KOs) will defend his fully unified lightweight title reign versus Ukraine’s Lomachenko atop a May 20 ESPN Pay-Per-View event from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Haney’s current hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The event marks the first title fight for Lomachenko (17-2, 11KOs) since his aforementioned loss to Lopez. The setback was his first since a narrow defeat to Orlando Salido for the WBO featherweight title in March 2014, which was just Lomachenko’s second pro bout. A 13-fight win streak followed, all in title fights spanning three weight divisions.
Lomachenko unified the WBA and WBO belts at lightweight and also briefly held the WBC title before exchanging it for the sanctioning body’s ‘Franchise’ championship designation. All were at stake versus Lopez, who was the undefeated IBF titlist at the time of their October 2020 unification bout, which saw Lomachenko fall behind early before embarking on a second-half rally that proved too little, too late on the scorecards.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum—who promotes Lomachenko and Lopez and now co-promotes Haney—suggested that Lomachenko return to 130, where he was far more dominant. The founder and chairman of Top Rank was concerned “that the 135-pound guys are too big for him.”
No chance, said Lomachenko who has remained put and has won his last three starts to now challenge for a goal he long ago set out for himself to become undisputed lightweight champion.
“For me, it looks like you’re weak,” Lomachenko claimed of any decision to leave the division. “I still have my speed, my power, my conditioning. I was very close with this goal. Now I have a second chance. But I have a second chance with a different man.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox