Ukrainian Karate Combat 56 Victor on “Sad” Vasiliy Lomachenko Retirement: “He’s Such a Legend”
Vasiliy Lomachenko is leaving behind a massive legacy within the sweet science with the 37-year-old relatively recenlty announcing his retirement and the Ukrainian standout has earned massive praises on his way out by a fellow Ukrainian combatant.
Alexander Krutskykh secured a victory on points against Shokrukh Kholmuradov at Karate Combat 56 on July 19th. Krutskykh appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and covered multiple topics after this recent victory brought him to 2-0 in the Karate Combat pit.
One of those questions related to another standout Ukrainian fighter in Vasiliy Lomachenko and when asked for his thoughts on Loma hanging up the gloves as well as the totality of a boxing career that saw him win professional titles across multiple divisions and multiple Olympic gold medals, Krutskykh said,
“Yeah, honestly Lomachenko, this is my all-time favorite boxer. When I start doing boxing in Canada, he was the person who I looked up to and I was trying to imitate his style. Get as close as possible and work a lot of footwork. He’s such a legend and I think out of all the boxers I watched, I think he have the best footwork and best fighter IQ and to seeing him retire, of course it’s sad.”
“But he’s not young anymore and he reached such a high level of titles. His amateur career I think one of the best and the biggest in the world. I think it’s like 360 something amateur fights and one loss. That’s incredible. Yeah, just seeing him fighting, it’s like looking; it’s pure art. It’s like as close as possible to being the artist in boxing terms, you know. So yeah, that’s very sad, but good for him. He deserved a good retirement and yeah, wish him luck.”
Vasiliy Lomachenko’s address to fans regarding his retirement from boxing
Vasiliy Lomachenko earned Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012 before embarking on a professional boxing career that saw him become a three weight world champion within a dozen bouts. Loma’s last outing came in May 2024 when he finished George Kambosos Jr. inside the distance to claim the vacant IBF lightweight strap.
In an emotional video posted to social media, Lomachenko addressed his exit from boxing by stating [via BBC],
“I am thankful that, as my career comes to an end, I have generated clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory.”
