Lomachenko stays in Ukraine and will not be able to meet with Kambosos

Vasily Lomachenko in the ranks of the territorial defense of his native city

Vasily Lomachenko was forced to abandon an attempt to regain the championship titles in a fight with George Kambosos Jr. Lou DiBella, Kambosos' promoter, revealed on Monday that Egis Klimas, Lomachenko's manager, had informed him that Lomachenko would not leave military Ukraine to prepare for his June 5 fight against Kambosos in Melbourne, Australia.

DiBella and Bob Arum, Lomachenko's promoter, agreed last month on the main points of the fight, which would see Lomachenko challenge Kambosos in a 12-round lightweight title fight. ESPN agreed to broadcast the fight from Marvel Stadium.

After Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) returned from Greece to support his compatriots in the fight against the Russian occupation forces, it became unclear whether the champion of three divisions could take on Kambosos. DiBella and Arum hoped until Monday that Lomachenko might agree to leave Ukraine and train abroad, though both have repeatedly expressed respect for the former champion's stance on invading his homeland.

DiBella said that he will now negotiate a fight between Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) and Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs).

“I spoke with Aegis Klimas and he confirmed that Loma would not be available for the next George fight,” DiBella said. - He thanked me and thanked Kambosos for giving him time to make a decision, and he thanked us first of all for making a deal. We had hope when the Ukrainian government said they were ready to allow Lomachenko to fight, but we did not hear an affirmative answer from Lomachenko himself. So we weren't shocked."

“Today Egis confirmed that Loma will stay in Ukraine. We respect his decision. We think the fight he's in is more important than boxing. And our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and with the Ukrainian people. What they're going through is obviously more important than any boxing match."

DiBella reached out to DAZN to give the streaming service the ability to show the Kambosos-Heini fight in most countries around the world.

“We always said we would fight in the stadium in June,” DiBella said. — We are going to choose the strongest opponent available. This is what we have been talking about from the very beginning. These were the instructions for me from George. DAZN has already received our offer. Devin Haney will be given the opportunity to fight on the same terms as Lomachenko."