Was Vasiliy Lomachenko the man who used to be?
The Ukrainian boxing wizard was #1 pound-for-pound on several lists – including Boxing Junkie – just two years ago. He then lost a great unanimous decision to launch Teofimo Lopez, which sparked rumors of his downfall.
Left-handed Lomachenko fought Lopez with an injured right shoulder, which required surgery a few days after the battle. However, questions about the 34-year-old persist.
The role was supposed to be fine when it came to the fight against Jamaine Ortiz on Saturday at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+). “The shoulder has been repaired and he feels good physically,” Top Ratings Vice President Moretti told Yahoo! Sports.
Age is something that cannot be fixed. Even Lomachenko admits it.
“Of course I had to adjust,” Lomachenko told Yahoo!. “The years just add up. They never go the other way. I need more time to recover now than before. I remember it was half the day I needed to recover and now I need the whole day.
“As a result, the approach has changed somewhat. We have reduced our workload and have more time to recover. “
However, that doesn’t mean he’s not near his best. His younger opponents, he implied, will learn that the hard way.
“The fight against a young and ambitious boxer will show if that’s the case,” he said.
Moretti, whose advertising agency has handled Lomachenko’s entire career, is realistic about the impact of time on a great boxer but believes the two-time Olympic champion retains much of his abilities. .
Lomachenko looked a lot like the old boxer in his previous two fights, one-way wins over Masayoshi Nakatani (TKO 9) last June and Richard Commey (UD) in December.
He hasn’t fought since the latter because of the ongoing war in his native Ukraine.
“Maybe physically he’s not what he used to be, but physically he’s good and you need to have that,” Moretti said. “Physically, he is fine. Now, does the wear and tear of long camp affect him? Is he affected by things that he has never been affected by before? If it turns into a fight, I think we’ll know he’s not quite a fighter like him.
“But I don’t think his father would let him fight if he felt he wasn’t fit enough or couldn’t perform at a high level.”
We will know more on Saturday. And then, assuming he beats Ortiz, we have a clear picture if he gets his wish: challenge undisputed 135-pound champion Devin Haney, which should yield Last chance to prove the doubters wrong and reclaim past glory.
Indeed, even as he slowed down, he continued to think big.
