Vasyl Anatoliyovich Lomachenko (Ukrainian: Василь Анатолійович Ломаченко; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian professional boxer.[1] He has held the WBO junior lightweight title since June 2016, having previously held the WBO featherweight title from 2014 to 2016. Known for his excellent hand speed, timing, accuracy, creativity and lateral movement, Lomachenko is one of the most highly rated fighters in boxing today, as well as arguably the greatest amateur boxer of all time.Competing in the featherweight and lightweight divisions as an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships, consecutive golds at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, and consecutive golds at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
After winning the second gold medal, Lomachenko made the decision to turn pro. After meeting with several fight promoters, Lomachenko signed a contract to fight for Top Rank. Lomachenko made his professional debut in United States 12 October 2013 as part of the undercard to the Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez main event defeating Mexican fighter José Ramirez with a fourth-round knockout.
Lomachenko vs. Salido
Lomachenko's bid to make history by winning a world championship in his second fight and break Saensak Muangsurin's record ended in failure. He challenged Orlando Salido for the featherweight World Boxing Organization's title. However, Lomachenko shied from engaging Salido throughout most of the fight, something that his opponent exploited. A late surge, which saw him injure Salido in the final round, was unable to change the final result as Salido won via twelfth round split decision.
Boxing magazines mentioned the conduct of the referee, Salido's dirty boxing and weight issues that are outlined in Orlando Salido vs. Vasyl Lomachenko controversy as contributing factors to Lomachenko's loss.
Lomachenko vs. Russell, Jr.
On June 22, 2014, Lomachenko defeated Gary Russell, Jr. via twelve round majority decision to win the vacant WBO Featherweight Title. In doing so he joined Saensak Muangsurin as the fastest fighter to win a world title, accomplishing the feat in just his third professional bout.
Lomachenko vs. Piriyapinyo
Lomachenko made his first title defense against mandatory challenger Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo of Thailand. This fight took place on the undercard of the Pacquiao vs. Algieri on HBO PPV bout. Lomachenko handled his opponent easily, hurting him a few times and scoring a knockdown at the end of the fourth round. In the seventh round, Lomachenko stopped using his left hand; it was later confirmed that he injured that hand. Lomachenko won a UD with the scores of 120-107 on all three of the judges' scorecards.
Lomachenko vs. Rodriguez, Koasicha
Lomachenko successfully defeated Gamalier Rodriguez via knockout in Round 9 on the under-card of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao.
Lomachenko returned on the Tim Bradley vs. Brandon Rios under-card on HBO. He overwhelmed, dominated and stopped Romulo Koasicha in the tenth round on a body shot.
Super Featherweight
Lomachenko vs. Martinez
Following a third successful defense, Lomachenko, still the reigning WBO featherweight champion decided to move up weight to super featherweight to challenge Roman 'Rocky' Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) for his WBO super featherweight title on June 11 at the Madison Square Garden Theater. Lomachenko became the fastest boxer to win a world title in two weight divisions knocking out Martinez in the 5th round of the world title fight. Lomachenko dominated the fight from the start with superior footwork, hand speed and slick punching from different angles. According to CompuBox research, Lomachenko out-landed Martinez 87 to 34. After the fight, Lomachenko called out Orlando Salido, "Hey Salido, I'm ready to fight you at any time, before the Vargas fight, I told him to win the fight but I never told him I wasn't going to fight him if he didn't, so let's do it. I want to revenge Salido for my fans and give them a win ov...