After claiming world titles at different weights the Ukrainian boxer is being mentioned in the same breath as Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler and Floyd Mayweather

Deep inside the O₂ warren of backstage corridors, where signed posters of the biggest stars to grace the arena are hung like trophies, we wait for Vasilyi Lomachenko. And we talk. And whatever the accent, the same adjectives tumble out. Sensational. Unbelievable. Special. The thing that marks him out, Tony Bellew says, is just how easy he makes it look against quality fighters. Jeff Powell, who has covered boxing for the Daily Mail for nearly 50 years, reckons Lomachenko is the best technician he has ever seen. And Bob Arum, still loudly and proudly banging the promoter’s drum with his 88th birthday looming, insists the Ukrainian belongs in the pantheon, alongside Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.

But when Lomachenko speaks to us, long past the witching hour, he does not want to engage. “I don’t want people to ask me if I think I am a great,” he says, his words laden with understandable fatigue. “That is down to other people to talk about and decide. My opinion doesn’t matter.”

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