Boxing promoter Bob Arum says that Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko have been given permission to leave Ukraine in order to train for upcoming fights by the country’s Minister of Culture, Oleksandr Tkachenko.
Fighters Usyk and Lomachenko returned to Ukraine at the end of February after Russia launched an invasion of the country across land, air, and sea. In just under a month since the assault began, cities including Kharkiv and Mariupol have been decimated by shelling, while over three million people are estimated to have fled Ukraine.
Usyk is scheduled to fight an obligatory rematch against Anthony Joshua at some point in 2022, having beaten the Englishman in a bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London last autumn.
The 35-year-old joined the Kyiv Territorial defence upon his return to his homeland and has been defending the capital from Russian invaders, while Lomachenko joined the equivalent division in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. The former lightweight champion is being lined up to fight current title holder George Kambosos Jr next.
Arum explained that both have permission to leave Ukraine, which last month enacted a law barring all men between the ages of 18 and 60 from fleeing. Now it is up to both fighters to decide whether they remain.
“The Ukrainian government, which is tremendous, are co-operating with us as far as Lomachenko and also Usyk,” Arum told Fanatics View. “They realise there’s tremendous publicity value in having them come out, train and participate in title fights.
“Hopefully the war will then be over, but if it isn’t, [they will then] go back into defence mode. So I don’t know where that stands with either guy, whether they’re going to accept the offer of the cultural minister of Ukraine to leave and to train for fights.”
Joshua himself is countenancing the idea of facing a different opponent if Usyk opts to remain in Ukraine in order to defend his country.
“When’s the next fight? It’s actually happening soon,” Joshua said on Instagram last Friday. “I don’t wanna say too much, but yeah, the fight’s happening soon. I pray it’s the rematch [vs Usyk]. I won’t fight anybody outside of the top ten.”
