Worldwide

Papachenko Not A Talkachenko With Media

News Worldwide

Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel Deliver An All-Action Draw

News Worldwide

Antonio Vargas Working Toward Title Goals Friday

News Worldwide

December Boxing Schedule: Season’s Beatings

News Worldwide

Jake Paul Defeats Mike Tyson - Taylor Serrano 2 Steals the Show

News Worldwide

Early Results From Texas: Carrington, Green, Bahdi Win

News Worldwide

Latino Night: Zurdo vs CBS Headlines Golden Boy Riyadh Lineup Saturday

News Worldwide

Paul vs Tyson Fight Week Finally Here

News Worldwide

Boots Ennis Survives, Bam Rodriguez Thrives in Philadelphia

News Worldwide

Double Trouble: Boots Ennis and Bam Rodriguez Buddy Up in Philly

Worldwide

Papachenko Not A Talkachenko With Media

Published

on

Papachenko Not A Talkachenko With Media
The man being honored tonight as BWAA Trainer of the Year has spoken to a media member now and then.
But not now.
Anatoly Lomachenko, aka PapaChenko, father of pound for pound number one* guy Vasyl Lomachenko, sends his sincere regrets, through Egis Klimas, manager to Loma.
No questions will be answered, I’m told, because the father-trainer just doesn’t care for it.
He’d prefer to be staying in his lane, which is the fast one, the one that will take his kid to Canastota if the current course is adhered to.
It’s strange, not jarring, but almost so, in this day and age.
Instagram likes are a currency. Building buzz is done now quite often with words and images, not actions. The best and brightest fight at most, really, three times a year, often two, and sometimes just once a year. They’ll take a year off, rest, re-charge, count their stacks and wait for worthy rivals to emerge. So communication is vital, because if you are not heard from, speaking to media and having them share your message, then you are out of the minds of the masses. But the trainer will let the fighter handle that side of this.
No offense, Mike, I am told, he just doesn’t really like to answer questions.
These were some of the ones he chose to not wrestle with:
Can we get the basics, where you were born, when, what your upbringing was like…mom and dad, brothers and sisters, what type of life you had as a boy, as a teen, as a young man, what you did for work as an adult before you emerged as a professional trainer extraordinaire?
Please detail your entry into boxing, and experience as a boxer.
How important was the span of time that Vasyl did dancing? From age 9 to 13, he danced…was it ballet? And is that THE KEY to his excellence…the footwork honed from dance?
Is there a secret to being successful training your son, and being able to maintain a “proper” relationship, father and son? Please share it!
Or not…
There won’t be any sharing of secrets from PapaChenko, so rivals and trainers on the come-up will have to make do with existing data and archival details.
Such as the ones bestowed to ESPN’s Mark Kriegel back in December 2017.
“Sparring sessions are comprised of 15 four-minute rounds with 30 seconds of rest in between.”
Oh, and by the way, Papachenko relayed this information not directly to Kriegel, but through the psychologist who works with the Ukrainian (10-1, 8 KOs) and will fight May 12 (tomorrow, as you read this) against Jorge Linares, in what I expect will be another session of easy work.
So, people like me will hope and maybe beg and continue to seek time, and tidbits, from the mouth of the man who fashioned, genetically and literally, via tutorial, the best boxer on this and any known planet.
We will monitor, and look to see if this story chapter in the book of Fathers Training Sons, will end on a happy note. When and if aging kicks in, and the son deteriorates, will the father who put his tiny baby hands into some mini boxing mitts take it too personally? You will have to ask the kid, because the dad isn’t really into sharing of himself with strangers. I don’t and won’t take it personally, because right now, it’s working, from our POV. You can debate if Loma is the best out there now, and is on a route to be an ATG… but no debate on this certainty…the relationship between PapaChenko and son works, from a boxing standpoint, really, really well.
*=Or two, but no lower than three, on any list I’ve seen

Related Topics:

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.

Continue Reading