By: Hans Themistode
Vasiliy Lomachenko continues to say he was robbed. The former three-division champion lost all of his lightweight world titles at the hands of Teofimo Lopez in October of 2020.
Heading in, the Ukrainian was viewed as the heavy favorite. Yet, it was his reluctance to throw punches during the first half of the fight that allowed Lopez to jump out to an insurmountable lead. With roughly half a year to process what happened, Lomachenko is convinced that their contest should have been ruled a draw. At this point for Lopez, he can’t help but chuckle.
“I can just laugh about it that’s all,” said Lopez to a group of reporters during a virtual press conference. “Lomachenko is in the past now. At the end of the day, I took his heart. Even if we were to fight again, I’ll knock him out.”
For both Lopez and Lomachenko, neither fighter has grown an interest in shaking the other’s hand. The two spent most of the build-up to their fight antagonizing the other. Even with 12 rounds of swapping fists, the beef between them doesn’t appear to be over.
Still, while Lopez is attempting to put Lomachenko in the rearview mirror, he does credit the pound-for-pound star for one thing.
“Fighting that caliber of fighter has elevated me to a whole other level.”
Lopez, 23, is currently just a few weeks away from defending his lightweight world titles against mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. on June 19th. In the case of Lomachenko, he’ll look to move past his unexpected defeat as he takes on Masayoshi Nakatani one week later on June 26th.
Although Lopez says he’s fully focused on the task at hand, he believes he knows why Lomachenko seemingly can’t get over the loss. As an amateur, Lomachenko is widely regarded as the best ever as he racked up 396 wins and only one defeat. In addition to that, he also has two Olympic gold medals. In the pro ranks, Lomachenko has been equally impressive. At the moment, the Ukrainian is the fastest male in boxing history to win world titles in three separate weight classes.
Considering the massive amount of success he’s experienced throughout his boxing lifespan, Lopez believes the loss he inflicted is simply a tough pill to swallow.
“With Lomachenko, he’s just somebody that took an ass whopping and he doesn’t know how to handle it right.”