Vasiliy Lomachenko Re-Signs With Top Rank for a 2027 Comeback — But His Undisputed Dream Is Racing the Clock

Vasiliy Lomachenko is returning to boxing for one final pursuit of the achievement that escaped him.

Top Rank announced on November 5 that Lomachenko had ended his retirement and entered a multi-year co-promotional agreement involving his newly formed Loma Power Promotions. The former three-division world champion is expected to compete at super featherweight and return in early 2027.

The direction is clear. The route is not.

Lomachenko wants to become an undisputed champion after his attempt at lightweight ended in defeat against Devin Haney in May 2023. His manager, Egis Klimas, has identified that accomplishment as the unfinished objective driving the comeback, while Top Rank chairman Bob Arum says the company intends to pursue major fights at 130 pounds.

That combination gives Lomachenko a platform, promotional support and an ambitious reason to return. It does not guarantee that the 38-year-old will remain physically capable of defeating the division’s best after nearly three years outside the ring.

It also does not answer the immediate questions surrounding the comeback. Top Rank has not officially announced an opponent, exact date, venue, broadcaster or sequence of championship fights. The number of bouts covered by the multi-year agreement and its financial terms have not been disclosed.

Lomachenko is back. Whether an undisputed run can realistically follow will depend on how much of the fighter who once operated among boxing’s most technically gifted champions returns with him.

Top Rank Has Given Lomachenko a Direction, Not a Championship Path

According to Top Rank, Lomachenko’s new agreement is a multi-year partnership involving Loma Power Promotions. That structure keeps him connected to the promotional company that guided most of his professional career while also giving his own organization a role in the comeback.

Lomachenko credited Klimas with continuing to work toward his return after he believed his career had ended. Klimas, in turn, presented the undisputed championship as the goal Lomachenko still needs to complete.

That ambition is consistent with the unresolved chapter of Lomachenko’s career. His opportunity to become undisputed lightweight champion ended with a decision loss to Haney in 2023. He recovered by stopping George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round on May 12, 2024, capturing the vacant IBF lightweight title in what remains his most recent fight.

The Kambosos performance gave Lomachenko a strong final image before retirement. He controlled the fight, secured a stoppage and reclaimed a world championship after the disappointment against Haney.

He did not defend that title.

The IBF said it received official notice of Lomachenko’s retirement on June 5, 2025, resulting in his relinquishment of the lightweight championship. By the time he returns in early 2027, he will have been absent from competition for well over two years and will be entering a division below the one in which he last fought.

Arum says Lomachenko is determined to become undisputed and that Top Rank will pursue significant opportunities at super featherweight. That commitment matters because an undisputed campaign cannot be built through ambition alone. It requires access to opponents, cooperation among promoters and sanctioning bodies, favorable scheduling and enough victories to keep the plan moving.

Top Rank can help create those opportunities.

Lomachenko still has to prove he deserves them.

The Comeback Announcement Leaves the Most Important Details Unsettled

The November 5 announcement changes several things immediately. Lomachenko is no longer retired. He has committed himself to competing at 130 pounds. Top Rank is formally attached to both his return and his undisputed objective.

Everything beyond that remains incomplete.

There is no officially confirmed comeback opponent. There is no confirmed date or venue. Top Rank has not announced a broadcaster, disclosed a purse or explained how many fights are covered by the agreement. Most importantly, the company has not presented a title sequence showing how Lomachenko could move from his first fight back to an undisputed opportunity.

That distinction matters because promotional announcements often compress a complicated process into a simple destination. Saying a fighter wants to become undisputed creates a compelling story. Building the necessary fights is considerably more difficult.

BoxingScene reported on November 3 that Lomachenko and Charly Suarez were nearing an agreement for a fight on February 13, 2027, potentially in Las Vegas. The report cited officials connected to the negotiations, but the matchup remains unconfirmed.

Top Rank’s official announcement did not name Suarez, confirm February 13 or identify Las Vegas as the location.

Until contracts and event details are announced, that potential fight should be treated as a reported negotiation rather than Lomachenko’s official return. The distinction is especially important because the identity of his first opponent will reveal how Top Rank views the comeback.

A manageable opponent would suggest the company believes Lomachenko needs time to recover his rhythm after retirement. A credible divisional test would show that the undisputed objective is being pursued on an accelerated schedule.

At 38, Lomachenko may not have the luxury of a slow rebuild.

Lomachenko’s Record Deserves Respect, but His Current Level Is Unknown

Top Rank lists Lomachenko’s professional record as 18-3 with 12 knockouts and identifies him as a former world champion at featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight.

That résumé explains why his comeback immediately matters. Lomachenko has already succeeded at 130 pounds, and his reputation was built on elite footwork, angles, timing, combination punching and an ability to force opponents into increasingly uncomfortable decisions.

Those qualities were still visible against Kambosos in 2024. Lomachenko did not leave the sport after an obvious physical collapse or a performance that established he could no longer compete. He retired as the IBF lightweight champion after winning his final fight by stoppage.

That gives his return more credibility than a comeback built entirely on nostalgia.

It does not establish what Lomachenko will look like in 2027.

The time between fights matters at any age. It becomes more significant when a boxer is returning at 38 and planning a multi-fight campaign. Timing can dull, reactions can slow and the pace required to control younger opponents can become more difficult to sustain.

Dropping from lightweight to super featherweight may also create new opportunities, but previous success in the division cannot be treated as proof of present superiority. Lomachenko must show that making 130 pounds remains practical and that his physical advantages have not been diminished by age, inactivity or the demands of returning to a lower weight.

His most recent victory provides evidence that he was still elite in May 2024.

It cannot tell us what remains in early 2027.

That answer must come inside the ring.

Every Delay Will Work Against the Undisputed Plan

An undisputed championship run normally requires more than one major victory. Even when a fighter has the name and résumé to receive an accelerated opportunity, the process can be slowed by mandatory obligations, negotiations, promotional alignments and the availability of opponents.

None of those complications becomes easier because Lomachenko is returning from retirement.

A multi-year agreement gives Top Rank time in a contractual sense, but Lomachenko’s athletic timeline is less flexible. Each training camp, negotiation and postponement consumes part of the window in which he may still be capable of performing at the highest level.

That is why Top Rank’s role will be essential. The company must secure meaningful fights quickly enough to make the undisputed objective realistic without pretending Lomachenko has already demonstrated that he belongs at the front of the championship picture.

His reputation should earn him serious opportunities. It should not eliminate the need for current evidence.

The comeback fight will provide the first meaningful test. Lomachenko must show that he can still control distance, create angles, sustain his pace and adapt when an opponent refuses to cooperate with the technical patterns that once made him so difficult to solve.

If he returns against credible opposition and looks sharp, an accelerated championship route becomes defensible. His history, accomplishments and final pre-retirement performance would support moving quickly.

If he struggles, the meaning of the agreement will change. What was announced as an undisputed campaign could become a farewell run built around a celebrated name and a limited number of remaining appearances.

That would not erase Lomachenko’s career. It would simply establish that time has imposed a different ending than the one he wants.