VASILIY LOMACHENKO ON TEOFIMO LOPEZ: “HE HOLDS MY BELT”
(APRIL 6, 2020) — Unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy
Lomachenko is riding out the COVID-19 pandemic in his native Ukraine,
but the three-weight kingpin is chomping at the bit to get his hands on
the division’s leading names, including IBF world champion Teofimo
Lopez, WBC world champion Devin Haney and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) has not fought since last August’s unanimous
decision victory over Luke Campbell in London. He has sat back and taken
notice of Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs), the Brooklyn-born prodigy who has been
outspoken in his desire to fight the pound-for-pound Picasso.
This is what Lomachenko had to say in an exclusive interview with Top
Rank’s Crystina Poncher.
ON THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UKRAINE
“The situation as of this moment is from Monday, there will be very
limited time to go outside. You will have to be in your house. You
can’t gather more than two or three people. The situation is like you
can only take your dog out for a walk or go out for something very
serious. Other than that, you have to sit at home. You can’t even walk
with your kids outside. Everyone will be on lockdown. This will go on
until April 24 starting on Monday.”
ON STAYING IN SHAPE AT HOME IN UKRAINE
“I have a gym {at my house}, and of course I’m still training
because it’s my job. Nobody knows when we can start. I always have to
be in shape. I have to be ready always.”
ON HIS FEELINGS WHEN HE FOUND OUT THE TENTATIVE DATE OF MAY 30 FOR THE LOPEZ FIGHT WAS POSTPONED
“Of course, I was disappointed a little bit, but everything that’s
happening {with self-quarantines} is happening for the better. The most
important thing is for all the people on this planet to get back and get
healthy and everything will go back to normal.”
ON WHETHER HE THINKS LOPEZ IS READY FOR THE SPORT’S ELITE
“I really think he’s a good boxer. He’s a top fighter. He’s
young, he’s hungry, he has big power, and I want this fight. He’s a
world champion, and he holds my belt. It’s IBF title.”
ON WHETHER HE SEES THE LOPEZ FIGHT ENDING IN A KNOCKOUT
“Nobody knows. It’s very unpredictable. Nobody can predict what is
going to happen, how it’s going to happen. And the people are talking
about which round they are going to knock somebody out or stop somebody.
I am getting very, very interested. Now, I want to see {the fight}.”
ON WHAT MAKES THE LOPEZ MATCHUP INTERESTING
“The interesting thing for me, it will be to look into his eyes and
his father’s eyes and see their reaction {after the fight}.”
ON HIS MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM FIGHTING LUKE CAMPBELL IN LONDON
“The most exciting moment I remember from my trip to the UK is
probably when we went on the top of the O2 Arena, and I saw all of
London. I could see it and then the very next day I was the champion of
that arena. That was the most memorable moment for me.”
WORD ASSOCIATION WHEN LOMACHENKO HEARS THE FOLLOWING NAMES:
_TEOFIMO LOPEZ SR._
“I can’t say that. It wouldn’t look good. I was raised
differently.
“{He is a} good father.”
_OLEKSANDR USYK_
“Best friend.”
“Power.”
_FLOYD MAYWEATHER_
“Boxing IQ.”
_BOB ARUM_
“Best promoter.”
FAN QUESTIONS
ANY CONCERN OVER THE LONG LAYOFF?
“Yes, of course. You have to be active all the time. You have to be
training a lot in the downtime between fights. Right now, I am relaxing
more. I will need to spend more time training. I will need to spar more
and do more work.”
IF YOU COULD FIGHT ANY BOXER FROM ANY ERA TO GIVE YOU THE BEST FIGHT,WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO FIGHT?
“Of course I would like to fight somebody who is undefeated, who has a
good history, who has a big name. I think the most interesting name for
me to fight would be Floyd Mayweather.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TEOFIMO’S SHOULDER ROLL AND CATCH-AND-SHOOT COUNTERPUNCHING STYLE?
“It is not an easy type of fighting. It is not an easy style. It is
easier to fight attacking fighters who are coming forward. It’s much
easier. This type of counterpuncher is more difficult to fight. The
winner will be who has the better boxing IQ. But that style with the
shoulder, I think I know what I have to do to win.”
DO YOU THINK THAT GERVONTA DAVIS WILL FIGHT YOU?
“Right now, I don’t think he’s going to fight me. He might want to
fight me, but his promoters are not going to let him. Aside from him,
that weight class is getting very interesting. We have a lot of good
names in the weight class. Not {just} the champions, but they are in the
rankings. So I think it’s a hard weight division.”
DO YOU WANT TO STAY AT LIGHTWEIGHT?
“It’s unpredictable. If we are going to be sitting here for one year
longer, who is going to be coming out and in what weight class will they
be?”
WHAT ABOUT THE INSTAGRAM BACK-AND-FORTH WITH DEVIN HANEY?
“Yes, DAZN posted something about Haney, and he said he would knock me
out. So that is why I answered him, ‘Hey, listen, are you serious?’
He has not fought anybody and now he is saying he is going to knock me
out? I said, ‘No problem, let’s do it.’ Then he answered me right
away saying, ‘Yes, we can do it.’ I said, ‘OK, I am ready.’ He
knows I am ready. I think he is ready, and we can give the fight for the
fans that everybody wants. That is why I mentioned before that this is a
very interesting weight class with big names and good names coming to
the weight class.”
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