Vasiliy Lomachenko, one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers and a two-time Olympic medallist, is ready to fight for his country, Ukraine. The 34-year-old has taken up arms to defend his country against invading Russians. (More Sports News)
Russia on Thursday (February 24) launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea. This is the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a pre-dawn televised address that he had approved a “special military operation”.
In a social media post, Lomachenko is shown armed and wearing military fatigues. He has reportedly enlisted in the Territorial Defence Forces, the country's military reserve force.
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Lomachenko, a former three-division world champion, was in Greece when the Russian invasion began. To reach home, he flew to Bucharest then traveled through Romania.
Ukrainian media outlets have reported that Lomachenko has joined the Belgorod-Dniester Terror Defence Battalion. And he is pictured carrying a weapon and wearing camouflage army fatigues.
Lomachenko, who has 16-2 with 11 KOs record, already has a June 5 fight in Australia against undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos.
Known as "Loma", Lomachenko won gold medals at Beijing Olympics 2008 in featherweight and London Olympics 2012 in lightweight.
But he's not the first Ukrainian boxer to join the armed forces in the wake of the Russian invasion.
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Hall of Fame boxer Vitali Klitschko, 50, earlier announced that he was taking up arms. His brother Wladimir Klitschko, 45, another Hall of Famer and a former heavyweight champion has already enlisted in Ukraine's reserve army.
Vitali is also the mayor of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
Hailing the patriotism shown by the boxers, president of WBC Ukraine Mykola Kovalchuk said, "We are so proud of our boxers, our real champions in boxing and champions in this war."
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying it violated the Olympic Truce.
It has called on international federations to cancel or move events planned in Russia and Belarus and to stop using the countries' flags and national anthems.
In fact, a number of federations, including skiing, curling and Formula 1, pulled premier events out of Russia.
UEFA, football's governing body in Europe, led the way when it relocated the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to Paris.
Also, Albania joined the wave of European opposition to playing any sports against Russia. The move was notable as Albania is among the few national teams in men's football with games scheduled soon against Russia in official competitions.
Albania is due to host Russia in Tirana on June 2 in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League competition. The return game is on June 13 though UEFA ruled Friday that Russian teams must find neutral venues for its home games.
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Poland's football federation has already refused to play Russia in a 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff that was scheduled for March 24 in Moscow.
That game is organized by FIFA, which said Sunday only that the Russian team could play at a neutral venue, must be named for its football federation as “RFU” and could not use the national flag or anthem.
The winner of Russia-Poland was set to host Sweden or the Czech Republic five days later for a place at the World Cup in Qatar. Both those potential opponents have also refused to play Russia.
(With AP inputs)
