Vasiliy Lomachenko has confirmed that he intends to end his retirement from boxing, and return to the super featherweight division.
The Ukrainian legend discussed the plans live tonight on DAZN from San Antonio.
Lomachenko said he will fight in 2027, and that he is targeting the winner of tonight’s fight between Emanuel Navarrete and O’Shaquie Foster, who will have three world title belts. That will be important, because Lomachenko also said that he’s still looking to go undisputed.
Saying that he left boxing because 135 was not his natural weight, he will be fighting at 130, which he hasn’t done since beating Guillermo Rigondeaux way back in 2017. He also said that right now he feels good in his return to training, but admitted that at 38 (he turns 39 in February), he’s not counting his chickens before they hatch.
“During the preparation, it looks very good, but nobody knows what will happen after another month or two of preparation,” he said. “We’ll see. But right now, everything’s good.”
It was also pointed out to Lomachenko that he was at a Top Rank event. Lomachenko fought his entire pro career under the Top Rank banner, and only brought up plans to end his retirement after his contract with them had officially ended. But he’s not counting out fighting for Top Rank again, either, which is smart, there’s no real reason to rule out fighting for any possible promoter.
Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KO) last fought in May 2024, stopping George Kambosos Jr on the road in Australia to win the IBF lightweight title. There had been talk of him facing Gervonta “Tank” Davis after that, but the bout did not materialize.
Do you think Lomachenko will have a successful return to world title-level boxing, or has he spent too much time on the sidelines and gotten too old?