V Is For Vasiliy Lomachenko

Having posted about being a southpaw yesterday, today I'm posting about one of my all time favourite fighters, who also happens to be a southpaw (but the similarity ends there!).

Vasily Lomachenko (Loma) is a double Olympic champion and three-weight world champion who has been described as the best pound for pound boxer of all time, and I'm not in a position to argue with that. I love the guy!

Loma is also the fastest ever boxing world champion claiming the WBO Featherweight world title in just his third professional fight. If that wasn't an amazing enough achievement, he is also the fastest three-division world champion ever, having held world titles in Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Lightweight divisions.

In the light of all this it would be easy to look at Loma's stats and the sheer number of wins, knockouts and titles he's won, but there are other boxers who can lay claim to just as many of each, though few would be as spectacular or have achieved as quickly as Loma.

For me what makes Loma stand out is his approach to the sport and his style of boxing in the ring, his ringcraft is extraordinary, there really is no one else quite like him. He doesn't have that one heavy killer punch some boxers have, but Loma will attack his opponents with a flurry of punches that will get the job done. Often too, Loma has displayed the ability to move from focusing on punches to his opponent's head to punching the body to get the job done, and he does this very very well! As for his footwork, it's a thing to behold and there has never been another boxer who comes close to the speed and agility of Lomachenko's footwork.

Loma was trained by his father from a very early age and was not allowed to box until he had learnt traditional Ukrainian dancing (essentially Cossack dancing). Once he had mastered that his father sent him to gymnastics classes before finally allowing him to box. His father also makes him do exercises on a memory board, claiming it is crucial for the mind and body to be in sync. To this day Loma's training methods are just a little unorthodox but incredibly effective. Loma has stated publicly that he would never allow anyone else to train him because he wouldn't want them to get the credit his father deserves. Father & son have a very tight bond.

If you've never seen Lomachenko in the ring, this short video is well worth watching.

As an aside from fact that Loma is one of my all time favourite boxers, the fact that I get to sing the praises of a truly great Ukrainian is a bonus at this time.

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This post is part of a series in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge, April 2022.