When the current ordeal that Ukraine is going through began, its leaders and role models, such as boxing stars Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, did not hesitate to put their careers aside to support their people to get out of this bad moment. However, Lomachenko will miss Usyk as their paths have parted.
Both Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk are two of the biggest stars in boxing today. When the Ukrainian suffering began, Lomachenko (16-2-0) had a fight on the docket as he sought to regain his WBO, WBA, and IBF Lightweight belts.
Oleksandr Usyk is one of the current faces of boxing’s Queen Division. With a record of 19-0-0, he stormed the Heavyweight division after claiming the Undisputed World title in the Cruiserweight category, and, before the pause, was also on his way to aim to repeat the feat in his now new weight class in which he already has 3 of the 4 major World titles.
The decision that separated Vasyl Lomachenko from Oleksandr Usyk in Ukraine
As previously announced by Bob Arum, Ukrainian authorities have granted Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk permission to leave their military ranks and temporarily return to boxing training for their important upcoming fights.
However, with tremendous patriotic instinct ahead of him, Vasyl Lomachenko announced that he had no intention of leaving his country to pursue his boxing career for the time being. Thus, his almost closed fight with George Kambosos Jr. in Australia ended up falling through.
This is where the paths of Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, who are very close and great friends since their amateur and Olympic boxing days, diverged. The current WBA, WBO, and IBF World Heavyweight Champion made the opposite decision to Vasyl.
“I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua. A large number of my friends support me … Thank God for everything,” stated Usyk in a video posted in his Instagram verified profile, which immediately changed everything in the Heavyweight category.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua’s new date
Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing Chairman, and Joshua’s promoter shared the potential month in which the anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and AJcould take place after colliding last September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
“I expect that fight to take place in June. I think almost certainly now that will be the next fight for AJ, which he is extremely happy about. He’s ready to go. We are dealing with Alex Krassyuk to finalize the location and hopefully next week we can give you some news to say that this fight is on and it will take place on this date, in this location. Like I said, it’s almost certain that it will be AJ-Usyk next.” said Hearn to BBC Live 5.