May 12 marked a full year since Vasiliy Lomachenko, the two-time gold medalist and former pound-for-pound king, last stepped in the ring. Whether Lomachenko, now 37 years old, will return to the sport is in question. He holds the IBF 135lbs title and, as Lance Pugmire reported, is expected to make a decision soon on whether to fight mandatory challenger (and interim titleholder) Raymond Muratalla.
But should he? Is Lomachenko, 18-3 (12 KOs), ripe for the picking if he fights again –or can he achieve more meaningful success in boxing? Our staff gathered to discuss.
Tris Dixon: He doesn’t need to, that’s for sure, and he has nothing to prove. He’s a Hall of Famer who has maintained fighting above his optimal weight in seeking the biggest challenges and the biggest names. But would I like to see him against the likes of Tank, Shakur and Keyshawn Davis? Of course.
Matt Christie: That’s his decision to make. If he’s still struggling with injuries, then it might be unwise to head back to the coal face again. One suspects he won’t fight again if he knows he won’t be able to get the best out of what he has left.
Kieran Mulvaney: I think Lomachenko should retire and I think he will. What does beating Raymond Muratalla do for him, his career, or his legacy? Nothing. Honestly, there's little he can do to advance any of those now. I think he's a bit fed up with it all, convinced that the Haney decision in particular was unjust. I honestly wish he'd never gone up to 135, where he was physically outmatched; the Salido fight aside, he might still be unbeaten and instead of a Hall of Famer, we'd be calling him an all-time great.
Owen Lewis: I think Lomachenko should retire. His achievements are such that the only way to really add to his legacy is by beating top lightweights like Gervonta “Tank” Davis or Shakur Stevenson. Lomachenko would likely be an underdog in both those fights. Maybe some will make the case that he’d beat Davis following “Tank’s” underwhelming showing against Lamont Roach Jnr. Given these fights’ failure to materialize so far, Lomachenko seems not to want them.
Lomachenko hasn’t taken a lot of obviously brutal punishment in the ring, but he has been fighting bigger men for years and years, and his frenetic, hummingbird-like style isn’t one conducive to age. (Another caveat: His countryman Oleksandr Usyk has made the big man version work at the highest possible level into his late 30s.) Lomachenko has also been fighting since childhood, and his motivation finally seems to be waning.
Dramatic success is still possible but unlikely. Should he keep fighting, it feels probable that there will be an ending to his career less satisfying and more hurtful than his win over George Kambosos. Besides, no further accomplishment is needed to feel proud about what he achieved.
Lucas Ketelle: Honestly, no. Lomachenko had a great career in the amateurs and the pros. There is nothing left to prove. Lomachenko was a unique figure in his time, taking legacy fights often in an era in which people chased the money. An example being Lomachenko facing Orlando Salido in his second pro fight for a title, which he lost, and then beating Gary Russell Jnr in his third fight to win a title. Lomachenko’s motivations always seemed to be grounded in history and accomplishment rather than cold, hard cash, which will always make him endearing to me.
Did Lomachenko’s career turn out the way many thought? No. But he constantly took hard fights, became a three-division titleholder, and did a lot of the heavy lifting to unify the lightweight titles so Teofimo Lopez, George Kambosos Jnr and Devin Haney could become champions. Let him retire in peace. He has earned it.
Ryan Songalia: It’s been a year since Lomachenko has been in the ring, and I wouldn’t blame him if he decided to never step back into a ring again. Lomachenko has had a Hall of Fame career and was able to reach the heights in a very short timespan as a pro. The heartbreak of the Haney fight, which many felt should have gone his way, was offset somewhat by the stoppage win over Kambosos. If Lomachenko decides he's had enough and wants to ride off into the sunset on a win like that, I think he's earned that right. But I also think he needs to make those plans clear, and if he isn’t going to keep fighting, then he should step aside and let interim titleholder Raymond Muratalla take the reins as the full champion.
Jake Donovan: Any thoughts of retirement should always lie solely with the boxer and his team. The real question is when Lomachenko will be forced to make that decision.
He has until October to fight Raymond Muratalla per the IBF ruling based on his injury exemption. However, there needs to be a firm deadline on his commitment to the fight. I say that because I don’t see that matchup dictating whether or not he’ll fight again, more so than whether it’s worth holding onto the IBF title.
That said, absent the Tank Davis fight – and the monster payday that would come with it – rolling back around, I’m curious what else is out there to keep him in the sport. Not sure I even firmly believe he’d be as motivated for the Shakur Stevenson-William Zepeda winner or Keyshawn Davis.