Now that he’s officially ending his time on the sidelines, he took the time to explain why he’s coming back.

“One day when I woke up, I’m thinking, now I’m 38 years old, and we need to try one more time to be undisputed champion,” Lomachenko explained on the DAZN telecast. “If I’m 40 or 41 years old, then it will be too late. That’s why I decided to come back.

“When I came into professional boxing, it was my main goal; it’s my dream. That’s why I’m back. I want to fight with the champion, whoever holds the title; I don’t care who it would be.”

In 2023, Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) nearly achieved that dream against Devin Haney, who was the lightweight division’s undisputed champion. However, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and former three-division titlist lost a narrow unanimous decision.

Roughly a year later, the Ukrainian retired after an 11th-round stoppage win over George Kambosos to become IBF lightweight champion.

With the future first-ballot Hall of Famer returning, he doesn’t want to ease back into the mix.

This Saturday night, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, O’Shaquie Foster (26-3, 12 KOs) scored a dominant unanimous decision victory over Emanuel Navarrete. In doing so, he won The Ring, IBF, and WBO junior lightweight titles, while also retaining his WBC belt.

Moments before the bout, Lomachenko told the telecast he would like to fight the winner.

No date for his return has been set yet, but the famed Ukrainian still hopes to return before the end of the year.