Vasiliy Lomachenko is heading into Saturday’s world title fight against George Kambosos knowing that his career is approaching the end.
Lomachenko faces Kambosos this weekend (May 12) for the vacant IBF lightweight title, in what will be the Ukrainian’s first fight back after losing to Devin Haney last May for the undisputed championship. Many saw Lomachenko as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the sport, but his best days might be behind him.
The 36-year-old came into professional boxing late, focussing on winning a second Olympic gold medal instead of chasing world titles. But Lomachenko made up for lost time in the pros, becoming the fastest man to win world titles in three weight divisions with just 18 fights. Now, after over a decade as a professional, the Ukrainian admitted his fighting days are numbered.
“If you are talking about ages in boxing ... I’m [an] old man,” Lomachenko told Fox Sports Australia. “But my career is almost done, of course. How many years it’s going to be, one, two, three, that’s it. But I still think I have a little bit of power. It’s a hard question [when I will retire exactly].”
Lomachenko has been boxing above his natural weight class for six years, facing much bigger and stronger men than him at lightweight. Recent defeats to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney have taken its toll on the veteran’s body, and he has now admitted it’s becoming harder to recover after fights.
“At this stage, every fight is hard. It’s hard to recover after fights. I don’t know what will happen with my body after this fight and that’s why I can’t give you an answer to this question [of when I will retire].”
