Vasiliy Lomachenko is recognised as one of the most technically gifted fighters in boxing history.
The 36-year-old enjoyed a successful amateur career, where he claimed Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 respectively. Since entering the professional ranks ‘Loma’ has won world titles in three weight classes, losing just several times in a 21-fight career.
The Ukrainian has enjoyed wins against the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jorge Linares and George Kambosos Jr to name a few.
Lomachenko has received some criticism over the last 12 months due to his inactivity, after having just three outings since December 2021 and only one fight in 2024, despite holding the IBF lightweight championship.
One man who has expressed his frustration to the 37-year-old is WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who has previously linked with a showdown against ‘Loma’.
Speaking on social media, Stevenson called for the IBF champion to walk away from the sport if he is not going to fight regularly.
“Retire. He’s not trying to be in no big fights, so why be in the sport?”
Shortly after making this comment, the 27-year-old spoke to Boxing News where he backed up his call for Lomachenko to retire from boxing.
“I’m kinda over it. I think he’s soft. At that last fight he pushed up on me and was talking kinda reckless but then he don’t want to get in a boxing ring and square off. I have respect for him for what he done in the sport of boxing, but lately I lost a lot of respect for him … I don’t even see the point of him boxing if he’s not gonna fight me or Tank. What’s the point? What are you doing?”
Stevenson returns to the ring himself on February 22 to defend his WBC crown against Floyd Schofield in Riyadh. The 27-year-old from Newark is targeting a huge fight in the summer if he can defeat Schofield next month.
