68
(^) Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 28, 2019
MEET THE MAN FROM
Boxing
T
he most extraordi-
nary maestro of the
noble craftwork the
world of boxing has
ever seen was born
in Ukraine two years after
the horrors of Chernobyl.
Few of Vasyl Lomachenko’s fellow
countrymen will quibble with the
notion that the genius we have the
privilege of watching defend his
unified world lightweight champi-
onship in London’s O 2 Arena this
Saturday against Luke Campbell is
in some strange part the product of
that nuclear disaster.
All manner of mutant reactions
have since been attributed to the
sinister, invisible cloud which
spread its poison.
The greatest pound-for-pound
boxer in the ring today was born
420 miles from the site of that
nightmare accident but
Lomachenko says: ‘Maybe I am the
man from Chernobyl.’
he says that in answer to the ques-
tion of how he came by the unique
style, mental powers and physical
properties which set him apart from
the mere mortals of the prize-ring.
Does he mean it? At the very least it
is a powerful metaphor.
Certainly, he is the product of
extreme science. What has become
known as the Loma experiment
began when his father Anatoly
laced a pair of boxing gloves on to
his hands when he was but two
days old.
Not for one day thereafter has
there been any let-up nor deviation
from his path towards becoming
the greatest boxer of all time, which
his father has always believed to be
his son’s destiny. And he still does
as the three of us meet on the
banks of the Thames.
As of now, Lomachenko is the
best pound-for-pound for boxer on
planet earth. Already, he is held to
be a phenomenon. No wonder his
first nickname was The Matrix.
The regime to which Loma, as he
is known to family and friends, sub-
mits himself is consuming beyond
intensity. ‘Papa’ who is also his
trainer has been likened, carelessly
by some, to Dr Frankenstein. But
he is no nuclear monster.
Loma says: ‘I love my life. Always
have. It is what I want to do. Also, I
never separate father from trainer.
he is my father in life but also my
father in the gym, my father in
my corner. he created my style
originally to look after me in a
dangerous game. Protect the head,
preserve my health.’
Together they developed the
remarkable movement which wid-
ens the astonishing angles from
which he delivers punches which
can barely be seen by opponents
before they land. To marvel at this
kaleidoscope of brilliance is to be
astonished at all it has taken to
achieve. Like sparring against three
men at the same time. Yes, three.
Loma smiles: ‘Usually it’s one
sparring partner. Sometimes two.
Occasionally three. I tell you a
secret. To be honest, it is easier
against three than two. The three
get more in the way of each other
than the two so if you also under-
stand positioning that makes it
easier for me to pick them off.’
That requires lightning speed not
only of hand but foot. To acquire
that as a boy he had to suffer being
exiled from the gym to dancing
classes for three years.
‘That I didn’t like,’ he says. ‘It was
Ukrainian national dancing with
the costumes. But my father
insisted. With hindsight, it was
worth it.’
It was one of many strict lessons.
‘I tell you one story,’ he says. ‘One
day I came home from school with
a low mark. My father told me to go
back and improve the grade. I
didn’t take it seriously. After two
days he asked if I had done so. I
said no. So he said I could not go
back to the gym until I did.
‘After two more days he asked
again. I answered no and I was
banned for two more days from the
gym. So I got out the books and got
the higher mark.
‘Then my father said, “OK”. But
he added that he had heard me
talking about winning Olympic
gold. he said that somewhere in
another country was another boy
with the same dream but now I was
five days behind that boy. he told
me that without an educated brain
I could not be world champion.’
What subject did he flunk? ‘I can’t
remember if it was Russian lan-
guage or history. For sure it was not
mathematics. I love mathematics.’
There speaks The Matrix.
Together they set about training as
well as educating Loma’s mind as
demandingly as his body. The Brain
Box is one of their devices.
‘I have to react to lights and
stimuli as fast as possible by touch.
I have always been a quick learner.
Always at speed. I can get as close
to instant reflex as humanly
possible.’
Maybe inhumanly. Some of the
physical excesses are also designed
to sharpen the brain. Like holding
his breath under water.
‘My record is four and a half min-
utes,’ says Loma. ‘My father says it
is four minutes 20 seconds but he is
always wanting more. I haven’t
done it so much lately but I think I
could get to five minutes now. It’s
not only physical. It teaches the
brain to remain calm and focused
under pressure. Down there, it
means more to me to win a fight
than to take a breath. I never panic
if I’m tired or hurt. I am still think-
ing when I can hardly breathe.’
Lomachenko has been forever
immersed in sport, the son of a
boxer father and a mother who still
practises gymnastics and martial
arts. ‘I did everything,’ he says.
‘Ice hockey, horse-riding, rowing,
wrestling, juggling tennis balls,
basketball, 10-kilometre swims.’
Not chess, though, unlike many
great eastern european fighters
like the Klitschko brothers and
Gennady Golovkin. ‘I’m not good
at sitting down,’ he smiles. ‘But I
was good at football. I played wide
front on the left (eden hazard-style
as he explains it) but with all the
boxing it never became serious.
‘When my father threw me a foot-
ball it was for something else. I had
to keep it up with my feet 300 times.
A hundred, a hundred-and-fifty,
two hundred was OK. But it took
me three hours to get to the 300. It
teaches focus, concentration,
determination.’
As does 15 four-minute rounds of
sparring against larger fighters: ‘At
my size (5ft 7in) I am usually box-
ing bigger opponents. But none
before so big as Luke Campbell (5ft
9in) so to solve that problem for
this weekend’s fight I have worked
with men ever taller than him.’
Pause for a moment and consider
this man’s record. Only one defeat
in 396 amateur bouts, with that
defeat avenged twice. Double gold
medallist in Olympics and world
amateur championships. Won first
world title, at featherweight, in only
his third pro fight (having suffered
his only defeat in a rushed bid to
win a belt in his second bout) and
holds the record for winning a
world title in a third weight division
in just his 12th fight.
Through it all, his father has been
there. ‘Always will be,’ he says and
not only in the tattoo of Papa on
his side. ‘We have had our differ-
ences down the years, of course.
Our arguments. Our problems. But
he always wins. Because in the end
it comes to an ultimatum. Quietly
he says that if I want to go my way
he wishes me well but it will be
without him.’
The moral support from his
mother as well as wife elena is vital,
also. As is that of his life-long best
friend ‘from the house opposite
ours’. That is one reason why,
although he trains for his American
fights near Los Angeles, he still
lives in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, the
Black Sea resort where he used to
sell newspapers and ice cream on
the beach for pocket money.
Neither the relatives nor the best
friend are coming to the fight, how-
ever. he explains: ‘My mother came
to a couple but she was frightened
for me. elena came once but was
nervous. And if they are there I
know they will be worried about me
doing something this dangerous
and it would distract me.’
The laser focus is on Campbell —
‘A very good fighter with a high
boxing IQ who I would never take
easily’ — at the moment And he
enjoys being in London where he
won his second Olympic gold.
he is happy to pose for pictures
against the skyscraper backdrop of
Canary Wharf. ‘I like the architec-
ture, the structure,’ he says. ‘I like
the people, too. They love the box-
ing and I could tell at the Games
they understand it. I was last here
for the Dillian Whyte fight against
Oscar Rivas and the atmosphere in
the O 2 was fantastic. I look forward
Vasyl Lomachenko, the world’s
best boxer, was born near the
site of the disaster. But it’s
hard work not a chemical
reaction that sets him
apart... isn’t it?
EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW
by Jeff Powell
Boxing Correspondent
‘I’ve always been a quick learner.
I can get as close to instant
reflex as humanly possible’
PICTURE:
KAITLIN KUC