Vasiliy Lomachenko: Boxer, soldier, believer, traitor? 

By

Sean Nam

On a Saturday night in New York City in December 2021, months before Vladimir Putin sent tanks and missiles and thousands of soldiers to try to cut the heart out of Ukraine, a boxing instructor named Liubomyr saw something that made him worry for his home country.

The 30-year-old, Brooklyn-based Ukrainian expat was seated in the bowels of Madison Square Garden, alongside scores of like-minded spectators, to witness the latest performance from one of the most compelling fighters in professional boxing: lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko, a sporting icon in Ukraine.

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