Vasiliy Lomachenko has announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 37, hanging up his gloves as one of the greatest fighters in the sport’s history.
The Ukrainian walks away as a three-weight world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist having previously compiled a staggering amateur record of 396-1.
Lomachenko last fought in May 2024 when he defeated Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. in an 11th-round stoppage, and finishes with a professional record of 18-3.
He confirmed his retirement in a message posted to social media on Thursday.
“I’m grateful for every victory and defeat inside the ring and outside the ring,” said Lomachenko. “I’m thankful that as my career comes to an end, I’ve gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory, not just in the ring.
“I thank god for my honest and wonderful and kind parents for their care, love and warmth I’ve felt throughout my life. My father taught me not only boxing, but how to be a role model for my own children.
“I’ve made many mistakes in life and in the gym but he was always by my side, correcting me when needed. I have many warm memories.
“To my family, you have always stood by me. You shared in my victories and you felt the pain of my losses. Those losses only made us stronger.”
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Watch Vasiliy Lomachenko’s best knockouts.
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Vasiliy Lomachenko stopped George Kambosos Jr in the 11th round to win the IBF lightweight title in Perth.
Lomachenko, who clinched gold at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, won world championships at three weight divisions across featherweight, super-featherweight and lightweight during his professional career, reigning as unified world champion at lightweight.
His first world title came in just his third fight when he beat Gary Russell Jr. via majority decision in June 2014, before stopping Roman Martinez in the fifth round to win the WBO junior-lightweight title in June 2016 and then stopping Jorge Linares to secure The Ring and WBA lightweight belts in May 2018.
He would go on to beat British duo Anthony Crolla and Luke Campbell amid a star-studded resume, which includes defeats to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney, the latter proving a thriller in May 2023.
Lomachenko had seemingly been in line to face Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in another mega-fight for the weight class, only for negotiations to break down.
Nelson: ‘Amazing’ Lomachenko underachieved as a pro
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Johnny Nelson hailed the career of Vasiliy Lomachenko after the Ukrainian announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 37.
Sky Sports Boxing pundit Johnny Nelson described Lomachenko as an “amazing fighter” but felt the Ukrainian failed to fulfil his potential in the professional ranks.
“In regard to how good he was a professional, I still think he underachieved. I think this guy was an amazing fighter.
“He and Oleksandr Usyk are very tight, very close – and the one thing that probably shattered that invincibility thing, was when he boxed (Orlando) Salido in his second fight for the world title, and just losing kind of showed that he was beatable.
“But an outstanding fighter. The fact I think he underachieved shows how good I think he was, because you look at what he achieved and think, ‘wow!'”
Watch Callum Simpson vs Ivan Zucco, with Adam Azim featuring on the undercard, on June 7 live on Sky Sports.
