Local boxing notebook: Camarillo resident Lomachenko returns to ring Saturday night
Vasiliy Lomachenko believes he has one more run in him to become an undisputed champion at 135 pounds.
The first step towards that goal begins Saturday night, when he faces former unified world titleholder George Kambosos Jr. at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The 12-round fight will headline a three-fight Top Rank on ESPN telecast at 7 p.m.
The clash between Lomachenko and Kambosos was originally scheduled to take place in June 2022, but Lomachenko had to withdraw after the conflict between Ukraine and Russia began. Lomachenko, heavyweight contender Oleksandr Usyk and junior middleweight contender Serhii Bohachuk, amongst others, traveled to Ukraine to report for service in the Ukrainian army.
In place of Lomachenko, Devin Haney fought and defeated Kambosos by decision over 12 one-sided rounds, and did so again in the rematch four months later. Both fights between Haney and Kambosos took place in Australia, where Kambosos lives in Sydney and has a significant following.
Lomachenko (17-3, 11 knockouts), who lives and trains in Camarillo, challenged Haney for the Ring Magazine lightweight and undisputed championship on May 20 of last year, losing a close, albeit disputed, unanimous decision.
Months after the win over Lomachenko, Haney vacated all world title belts, including the IBF title, to move up in weight (140 pounds), where he currently holds the WBC world junior welterweight title. He lost by unanimous decision to Ryan Garcia in his last bout on April 20.
The 36-year-old Lomachenko, who is celebrated as one of the greatest ever amateur champions, accumulating an astounding 396-1 record and winning two Olympic gold medals, believes he can again dominate a very talent-rich 135-pound division.
“I’ve been in the sport for a long time,” said Lomachenko at Thursday’s news conference. “We are two professionals. We know boxing. We know strategy. It will be very, very interesting for both. It will be very, very interesting for all fans of boxing. We have a fight. We prepared very hard. And like I said, it will be very interesting.
“I’m just looking forward to the IBF title. I need to take my title, and then after that, I can think about my future.”
Aside from 135 pounds, Lomachenko has won world title bouts at 126 and 130 pounds. He is managed by Thousand Oaks resident Egis Klimas, who also manages Moorpark resident Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
Prior to the loss to Haney, Lomachenko had won his previous three bouts since losing to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020.
Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) rebounded from the two losses to Haney, defeating Maxi Hughes of England by majority decision in his last bout on July 22, 2023. Most boxing insiders and media who watched the fight thought Hughes did enough to win.
The 30-year-old scored a career-best win over Lopez, overcoming a knockdown to grind out a split-decision victory in November 2021.
Lupia victorious
Welterweight prospect Joshuah Lupia remained unbeaten on April 21, stopping Bartlomiej Wanczyk in the opening round at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto.
Lupia, who is originally from Niagara Falls and now resides in Ventura, improved to 14-0 with 11 KOs.
The 26-year-old is trained by Marco Contreras at 101 Boxing in Newbury Park. In preparation for the April 21 fight, Lupia sparred with Kavaliauskas, who Contreras also trains, and once-beaten fringe contender Vlad Panin.
In his previous fight on Dec.10, Lupia stopped Ismael Urieta. Three months prior to the win over Urieta, Lupia knocked out Victor de Lira Quezada in a clash of unbeaten welterweights.
Wanczyk, who resides in Nowy Sacz, Poland, falls to 15-3, 7 KOs. In his previous fight on March 22, the 36-year-old Wanczyk lost by unanimous decision to fringe contender Lukasz Wierzbicki.
Francisco A. Salazar covers boxing for The Star. He also covers boxing for Ring Magazine. He can be reached on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Camarillo resident Vasiliy Lomachenko returns to ring Saturday night
