The Best Fighters to Come… From Ukraine
If the world has learned anything of note in the past three years, it may be that the Ukrainians are not a people to be messed with.
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Given what has been seen of Ukrainian bravery, fortitude, and resistance in that time, it is no surprise that the nation has given the world some tremendous boxers and fighters over the last twenty-five years.
Vasyl Lomachenko, 18-3 (12)
Newly retired, 'Loma' may have been the most preternaturally gifted boxer of his generation. As an amateur, he won 396 of 397 amateur fights and picked up Olympic medals in 2008 and 2012.
Bizarrely, his debut fight was for a title, albeit a largely meaningless one in the form of the WBO international featherweight belt. But Lomachenko won by stoppage in four rounds, then promptly lost a split decision five months later for the WBO world featherweight title.
Not to be deterred, Lomachenko won that title just three months later with a majority decision against Gary Allen Russell Jr and then went on a run of twelve victories, moving like a scythe through the likes of Anthony Crolla, Luke Campbell, Jorge Linares, and Guillermo Rigondeaux.
In 2020, Lomachenko attempted to unify the world lightweight title but dropped a unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez. He moved back to winning ways with three wins on the trot, before losing a decision to the then-undefeated Devin Haney in another world lightweight unification bout.
There was, however, one last hurrah when Lomachenko went to Australia just over a year ago where he stopped George Kambosos Jr in eleven rounds.
Retiring this week at the age of 37, Lomachenko said that he was moving in a new direction in life.
Wladimir Klitschko, 64-5 (53)
The former undisputed heavyweight king was actually born within the borders of Kazakhstan in 1976, but is proudly and firmly Ukrainian.
After winning gold in the super-heavyweight division in the 1996 Olympics, the younger of the Klitschko brothers turned professional in 1996 and fought mainly in Germany before US fighter Ross Puritty stopped him in eleven rounds in Kyiv in 1998.
Returning in Germany, this Klitschko steadily rebuilt, fighting across the world, until WBO champion Chris Byrd was persuaded to go to Cologne in 2000.
A twelve-round decision gave Klitschko his first world title, which he then defended against the likes of Charles Shufford, 17-1; Frans Both, 44-3-1; Ray Mercer, 30-4-1; and Jameel McCline, 28-2-3. The wheels coming off with losses in the second and fifth rounds to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster in 2003 and 2004 seemed to spell the end, but Klitschko outscored dangerman Samuel Peter before steadily collecting all the belts (apart from the WBC, which was owned by brother Vitali).
A close loss to Tyson Fury in Dusseldorf in 2015 spelled the end of one of the longest heavyweight runs.
But there was still some fire left – a 2017 match against Anthony Joshua, when Klitschko was 41, became a heavyweight classic and proved as good a time as any for the Ukrainian to finally retire.
Vitali Klitschko, 45-2 (41)
If Wladimir was the boxer, then elder brother Vitali was the fighter. Currently Mayor of Kyiv, this Klitschko was originally supposed to be Ukraine's super-heavyweight in the 1996 Olympics but lost out on a berth due to a failed drugs test.
Instead, the senior Klitschko turned professional later that year and, fighting largely out of Germany like his brother, worked his way up to the European title within two years. After defending the European title twice, Klitschko went to London and knocked out the heavy-punching Herbie Hide in two rounds for the WBO title.
Two defences of the WBO title followed before a shoulder injury forced Klitschko to retire after nine rounds against Chris Byrd.
If Vitali's standing had been diminished by the loss to Byrd, he regained it by losing on cuts against Lennox Lewis, coming in on short notice. There was no rematch, however, as Lewis retired and Klitschko, after defeating Kirk Johnson in two rounds, slugged it out against Corrie Sanders to win the vacant WBC title. After one defence and citing injuries, Klitschko retired.
Only to come back four years later, stopping Samuel Peter in eight rounds in Berlin. Reinvigorated, Klitschko made nine defences of the WBC title before retiring after a technical knockout over Mahmoud Charr.
Oleksandr Usyk, 23-0 (14)
Current heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is the only fighter on this list to still be undefeated, although many have tried. The problem is that there may be no heavyweight on the planet capable of doing so while only in possession of two arms.
While Usyk has remained undefeated against Fury (twice), Joshua (twice), and Dubois in what has been one of the richest seams in heavyweight history, he also does so as a cruiserweight who has moved up.
It is a rare occurrence, too, that Usyk fights at home in Ukraine. But this is a man who has spent the majority of his career on the road.
Usyk won his first world title against the Polish Krzysztof Glowacki in Gdansk, Poland, in 2016. From there, he defended his title twice in the US, before travelling to Germany to beat Marco Huck in the inaugural World Boxing Super Series.
Usyk then travelled on foreign soil three times, to beat Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, and Tony Bellew on home territory before going to Chicago to beat Chazz Witherspoon in Usyk's first heavyweight fight. He then came back to the UK to beat Derek Chisora and Anthony Joshua, the latter for the heavyweight titles.
Decamping to Saudi Arabia, Usyk rematched Joshua – and won. Then he went to Poland to fight Daniel Dubois (the city was brimmed that night with Ukrainians – the closest to a home crowd Usyk had had in years), before returning to Riyadh to face Tyson Fury twice – winning both bouts.
And in a few weeks, live and exclusive on DAZN, Usyk will face Daniel Dubois again – this time at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London.
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