Daily Mirror - 30.08.2019

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mirror.co.uk/sport FRIDAY 30.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^55

LOMACHENKO v CAMPBELL

FIGHTING IS SO

SIMPLE FOR

VASILIY, HE

CAN’T WAIT TO

GET BACK TO

HIS HOBBIES!

BY CHRIS McKENNA

VASILIY LOMACHENKO

seems to find boxing so easy

he might be forgiven for

seeking his adrenaline kicks

outside the ring.

He meets Hull’s Luke Campbell

(right) tomorrow night at the O2

in London when they face off for

the WBA, WBO and WBC

lightweight titles.

But the Ukrainian superstar

will be relieved to be home next

week and get back to his hobbies.

“I started my boxing career

very early – I don’t remember the

first moment I was in the boxing

gym,” said Lomachenko.

“All my life I trained in a boxing

gym. I am a man who loves life

outside boxing, I have hobbies,

but I don’t have time for them. I

love fishing and I love drifting.”

Drifting is the motorsport

which originated in Japan where

drivers oversteer corners to

create a different type of race.

It is not a usual interest for a

boxer, but Lomachenko is no

ordinary fighter,k in or out of the

ring.

“One driver from Ireland,

James Deane, he’s an

unbelievable driver, a

world champion,” he

explained.

“Yes, it’s about

adrenaline – and I love

cars.”

Lomachenko is

almost frustrated that

the sport he dominates

gets in the way of his

out-of-the-ring

hobbies.

But there is no

doubt boxing is

the main talent of

the wizard-like

fighter who

continues to amaze every time

he steps through the ropes.

He lost just one fight out of

396 as an amateur – a defeat that

he avenged twice – and Orlando

Salido beat him after a bold bid

to become a world champion in

his just his second pro fight.

Since then, Lomachenko

became a three-weight

world champion inside 12

bouts and now, in his 15th

pro fight, he hopes to add

the WBC belt to his WBA

and WBO lightweight

crowns.

The ambition is to

get the fourth

world title and

be undisputed

champion with

a fight between

the winner of

IBF champion

Richard

Commey and Teofimo Lopez

mooted. “My motivation is four

belts and one of my motivations

is boxing history,” he said.

Yet even becoming undisputed

king at lightweight will not

surpass his Olympic glory.

Lomachenko came out on top

of the featherweight division at

London 2012, but it is the first

Olympic gold at Beijing 2008

which is his most prized

possession.

He said: “Winning the Olympic

Games is a special moment.

“I lived with that dream, I went

to bed with that dream, I went to

school with that dream, all the

time I thought about the gold

medal.

“And then I won the Olympic

medal and it’s unbelievable. I

can’t explain my feelings, but no,

nothing in the future could

compare.”

CRICKET

ATHLETICS

FORMULA ONE

STEVE SMITH is back.

Australia’s talismanic

batsman (above) returned

against Derbyshire... as a

bowler. His warm-up ball

to Peter Siddle at mid-on

sailed over his head to

the boundary. Derbyshire

were all out for 172, the

Aussies 77-0 at close.

SILVER LINING

FOR BRIT GP

BY MATT MALTBY

THE British Grand Prix will

avoid a schedule clash

next year as Formula One

announced an exciting

2020 calendar that

features a record 22 races.

Lewis Hamilton’s (above)

Silverstone triumph last

month was overshadowed

by England’s Cricket World

Cup final victory and

Novak Djokovic’s

Wimbledon win. F1 chiefs

have pushed the race

back a week to July 19, the

same weekend as The

Open at Royal St George’s.

It will therefore avoid

clashing with the Euro

2020 final at Wembley

and the men’s singles

final, both on July 12.

The German GP may

have disappeared from the

schedule, but new races in

Vietnam and Holland have

been introduced.

200m in Doha. And with

Asher-Smith (left)

finishing ahead of Elaine

Thompson, she has now

beaten all her

Doha-bound

rivals.

Adam Gemili

and Zharnel

Hughes both

clocked 10.15secs

in the men’s 100m.

Noah Lyles won in

9.98secs in the absence

of Christian Coleman – in

hot water after missing

three drugs tests.

BY ALEX SPINK

DINA ASHER-SMITH

heads to the World

Championships as the

one to beat after

running her

fastest 200

metres of the

year in Zurich.

She finished

second to the

brilliant Shaunae

Miller-Uibo at the

Diamond League final,

clocking 22.08 seconds.

But Miller-Uibo has

elected not to race the

Dina pure dynamite

bea

D

r

H

clo

THRILLS AND SKILLS

Juggling is just one of

champion Vasiliy

Lomachenko’s talents

hes an

ver, a

,” he

out

love

is

d that

minates

of his

g o s f e o

his just his second p

Since then, Lo

became a thr

world champio

bouts and now,

pro fight, he ho

the WBC belt t

and WBO li

crowns.

The amb

get th

worl

be u

cha

a fig

the

IBF

R

WBA SUPER, WBC & WBO

WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT TITLES

O2 ARENA, TOMORROW