Vasiliy Lomachenko Ended His Retirement and Re-Signed With Top Rank: What Has Actually Been Booked
Vasiliy Lomachenko is coming back. Top Rank announced Thursday that the three-division champion has ended the retirement he declared in June 2025 and signed a multi-year co-promotional deal, structured through his own new company, Loma Power Promotions. He will campaign at super featherweight and return in early 2027.
That is the official part, and it is worth separating from everything else being written about this.
What Is Signed and What Is Not
Signed: the Top Rank deal, the 130-pound weight class and “early 2027.” Top Rank named no opponent, no date, no venue and no broadcaster.
Reported but not signed: a Feb. 13 return against Filipino contender Charly Suarez in Las Vegas as a title eliminator. Nick Giongco of the Daily Tribune in Manila had it first, saying Bob Arum described the fight as in the works on a phone call on Halloween night. DAZN relayed it and stated plainly that the fight is not confirmed. World Boxing News reported a Jan. 13 date instead. Nobody has produced a contract, and neither camp has responded to requests for comment.
So treat Suarez as the likely opponent and nothing firmer than that.
Why 130, and Why Now
Lomachenko is 38. He last fought on May 12, 2024, stopping George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round in Perth to win the vacant IBF lightweight title, then retired holding it. A February return would put him roughly 33 months out of the ring.
He told ESPN that lightweight was never his natural weight and that it contributed to his retirement. He has not fought at 130 since 2017. He is 18-3 with 12 knockouts, went 396-1 as an amateur, won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, and has held titles in three divisions. He has never been undisputed in any of them, which he and his manager both say is the whole reason for this.
“God works in mysterious ways. I thought I would never step back into the ring again as a boxer,” Lomachenko said in Top Rank’s statement.
Arum was less reverent. He called Lomachenko “one of the most gifted fighters I’ve ever promoted” and said he is “determined to become undisputed.” On Suarez, Arum told Giongco he thinks Lomachenko would win easily, while promising Suarez a fantastic purse.
The Belts Are in One Man’s Hands
O’Shaquie Foster, 33, holds the WBC, WBO and IBF titles at 130 after beating Emanuel Navarrete by unanimous decision on Oct. 24 in San Antonio, dropping him twice and winning 118-108, 118-108, 115-111. Foster is 26-3. The WBA belt belongs to Anthony Cacace, who defends against Nick Ball in Belfast on Dec. 19.
Foster is not pretending he has not thought about this. Speaking to Ariel Helwani last week, he said he would rather Lomachenko “get a tune-up fight because I just fought,” and added: “I just don’t want no excuses.”
There is a complication that makes the Suarez report make sense. Suarez, also 38 and 19-0 with 11 knockouts plus a no contest, is the WBO’s mandatory challenger, and the sanctioning body ordered the Navarrete-Foster winner to face him within 180 days of Oct. 24. An eliminator involving Lomachenko would be a tidy way to manage that obligation. Whether the WBO has actually sanctioned one is unknown.
The two have met before, in the 2013 World Series of Boxing, where Lomachenko won a five-round decision. Suarez’s trainer Delfin Boholst says his fighter is unbothered by the name: “Charly told me that Lomachenko doesn’t scare him.”
Suarez fought in July. Lomachenko has not fought in two and a half years. At 38, in a division he left nine years ago, the ambition is admirable and the math is not friendly.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
