The World Cup, currently being contested in Brazil, is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, even exceeding the Olympic Games.
The combined viewership of all games of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was believed to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, over 11 percent Earth’s population.
The World Cup is a pretty big deal so it should serve as no surprise tournament-related queries have dominated the international search landscape this past week.
Previously ranked No. 16, Ukraine was one of three top-ranked teams that failed to make the 2014 World Cup. However, as shown in Google Trends, interest in the tournament is still very high there. For Saturday, June 21, World Cup queries were responsible for 3 of 4 of Ukraine’s trendiest searches in Google.
So what was the fourth?
LOMACHENKO-UKRAINE “Lomachenko” Ломаченко
Yes, Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko was the fourth trendiest query in Google Ukraine, finishing just behind “Germany – Ghana,” Argentina – Iran” and “Honduras – Ecuador” and preventing a top four World Cup sweep. Last night, Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO), in just his third professional bout, won the WBO Featherweight Championship by impressively outpointing fast-rising, formerly undefeated, Gary Russell Jr. (24-1, 14 KOs) on a fight card broadcast live by Showtime in the U.S. and BoxNation in the U.K.
Although most believed the Ukrainian had won by a wide margin, the official scores were 114-114, 116-112 twice.
?I am very happy about my performance,? stated Vasyl Lomachenko afterwards. ?And I want to thank all of the fans who supported me in winning this title. I stuck to the game plan and out landed him to the body and head.? Already a legend in the amateur game, the 26 year old Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who boasted a magnificent record of 396-1 in the non-pro ranks. And his only loss, to Albert Selimov, was avenged twice.
Last night, Vasyl took a giant step towards becoming an icon in his native in Ukraine and, perhaps, an international star.
Will Vasyl Lomachenko, the fighter who prevented a World Cup sweep in Google Trends Ukraine yesterday, become as popular as pugilistic phenoms such as Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya?
Remember the name.
