thanks for this.klitoris wrote: ↑28 Dec 2024, 19:20Loma was never "in the war," strictly speaking. He supposedly joined the territorial defence in his oblast (equivalent toJackSprocket wrote: ↑28 Dec 2024, 18:29Do you have a source for this? Loma was in the war, no? Fighting for Ukraine.
a province or state in the US) for a brief time, which is basically just being part of the civil militia. However, the people in that territorial defence said he was there, maybe for a very brief time in total and just used it as a PR stunt. The media in the US obviously caught this story and tried to make him into some kind of hero from a few Instagram pics, but the actual soldiers who joined that territorial defence and did actual duty and time knew the real truth about Loma, so he never got much respect. Also, apparently, Loma once refused to provide identification at a military checkpoint, so the soldiers put him at gunpoint and searched his car. Allegedly the story is that he was pissed off that they didn't let him pass simply because he was Lomachenko. Mind you, there were some other "celebrities" in Ukraine who did PR stunts similar to Loma. It's just that Lomas's ego is so ridiculously massive when he is in Ukraine; few people respect him in Ukraine.
As for Usyk, I believe he did put in some decent time for Kyiv's territorial defence. Also, the situation in Kyiv was much more dangerous than it was in Odesa at the time (Russian troops were essentially on the outskirts of the city) so Usyk got a lot more respect by staying in Kyiv and not fleeing. But Usyk gets his real respect because he has supported troops at the frontline financially for a long time now (even before the full-scale invasion) since 2014. This whole thing about "fighting in the war" was always a way to show solidarity with his people and to raise general morale. Usyk knows he has little to offer on the frontline itself and is more valuable in actually winning fights and promoting Ukraine and Ukraine's voice on the international stage. And that's where the difference lies between them. Lomachenko, although he had been mostly pro-Ukrainian all his career, took a somewhat ambiguous political position when the war started. For example, when he joined that territorial defence force, he would fly his city flag and would be rarely seen with the Ukrainian flag. At one fight, I believe, he took his city flag and not the Ukrainian flag (this was when the war was happening). Many people took that as making the statement that he doesn't identify with his Ukrainianness and only does with his city/region identity and probably would be just as comfortable with russia being in control of Ukraine. Add to this the fact that he has been part of the russian orthodox church in Ukraine (a church that has basically lost the majority of its members to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church the moment the war started) Loma to this day is in this fringe mindset being influenced by some weird russian orthodox priests (who are on the FSB/KGB payroll).
I was wondering about it a few days ago, why no visible Loma at the Fury fight and looked online, couldn't find anything. I noticed there wasn't much on insta either, but saw Usyk had liked Loma's post from this week. I've read before about what you've said re: Loma and his vague position. sounds like Rasputins playing him like a daft puppet.
Usyk carrying on boxing seemed to me like it's for Ukraine more than his own personal glory. respect.