For all of the history that Vasiliy Lomachenko has achieved throughout his boxing lifetime, there exists the firm belief within his inner team that the best is yet to come.

The fact that it has become personal in his next adventure only furthers the cause to kick it up another level.

The two-time Olympic Gold medalist from Ukraine and three-division titlist is officially set for a multi-belt lightweight title unification clash with Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12KOs). Their anticipated showdown was formally announced by Top Rank on Tuesday, taking place on October 17 live on ESPN from MGM Grand Conference Center (“The Bubble”) in Las Vegas in a bout to crown a true lineal lightweight king.

Lopez long ago planted the seed for such a fight back in 2018, as he sought to instantly transition from the sport’s top prospect to its leading superstar. A win over one of the very best pound-for-pound boxers in the world would accomplish just that—although it is also much easier said than done. 

“Teofimo Lopez can talk all he wants. He’s very good at talking. He has done nothing but say my name for the past two years,” Lomachenko claims ahead of what will mark his fourth defense of at least one lightweight title. “Good for Teofimo.” 

Lomachenko (14-1, 10KOs) won his first major title in just his third pro fight, a dominant yet awfully scored majority decision win over then-unbeaten Gary Russell to win a featherweight belt in June 2014. It came on his second try, three months after the Ukrainian southpaw suffered his lone career defeat—a 12-round defeat to an overweight Orlando Salido earlier that March.

Overall, Lomachenko is 13-1 in fights with at least one major title at stake, including a perfect 4-0 at lightweight beginning with an off-the-canvas 10th round knockout of Jorge Linares in May 2018. The feat came at a cost, undergoing surgery later in the month to repair a torn right labrum which put him on the shelf for seven months.

Lomachenko returned in December 2018, outpointing Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza to unify two lightweight titles. His next bout would be the first where he would enter and exit with the same amount of hardware intact, blowing through mandatory challenger Anthony Crolla inside of four rounds last April. The bout was the first where Lomachenko felt like he was at full physical capacity, though hardly to where he was pushed to the limit.  

“Nobody has seen Lomachenko at 100 percent inside the ring,” insists Egis Klimas, the multi-time BWAA Manager of the Year who has guided Lomachenko’s pro career from its birth. “If Teofimo can push Loma to at least 80 percent, it means Teofimo is the best opponent Loma has faced.”

The amount of trash talk offered by his upcoming rival certainly offers cause to unleash the beast.

Four months after soundly outpointing England’s Luke Campbell to unify the WBA/WBO/WBC titles, Lomachenko sat ringside for Lopez’s coronation. Enough could not be said of the manner in which Lopez blasted out Richard Commey last December to win the IBF title, though not at all by the brash Brooklynite who simply accomplished what he always believed was going to be the case.

 Instead, all of Lopez’s attention throughout 2020 has focused squarely on Lomachenko and becoming the recognized World (lineal) lightweight champion—a mission he has sought for nearly two years. At the very least, it’s much-needed bulletin board material for a long-reigning pound-for-pound entrant eager to affirm his place atop the perch.

“I am a fighter, and my goal is to win another world title,” notes Lomachenko. “When we fight in Las Vegas, he will eat my punches and his words.

“I will be the better man, and four world titles will come home with me to Ukraine.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox