After choosing to remain in his native Ukraine during the early days of Russia’s invasion, Vasiliy Lomachenko now appears ready to begin preparing for a return to the ring. Top Rank president Todd DuBoef told both Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole and ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Lomachenko has contacted his promoters at Top Rank and stated he wants to fight as soon as October.
Lomachenko was set to face George Kambosos Jr. for the undisputed lightweight championship earlier this year. As preparation for that fight was to begin, Russia invaded Ukraine and Lomachenko chose to return to the country from Greece and take up arms.
Kambosos instead faced Devin Haney in June, with Haney winning a dominant, one-sided decision to win all four world titles at 135 pounds.
If Lomachenko was to return in October, it will not be in a world title fight should he remain at lightweight for the bout. Kambosos used his power as champion to include a rematch clause with Haney, which he activated after the loss, tying up the undisputed titles until the two face off in Australia a second time. There is not yet a date set for the rematch.
Lomachenko is a former featherweight and junior lightweight champion as well as a former unified lightweight champ. In October 2020, Lomachenko lost his lightweight titles when he was upset by Teofimo Lopez, who then went on to lose his titles to Kambosos.
Since the defeat to Lopez, Lomachenko rattled off two dominant wins over tough contenders, stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in the ninth round and dominating Richard Commey over 12 rounds.