AFTER a one-sided beating of Guillermo Rigondeaux that culminated with the Cuban retiring after six rounds citing a hand inury, Vasyl Lomachenko claimed he always suspected his rival would quit.
“Nothing he did surprised me,” Lomachenko told the media gathered inside Madison Square Garden. “Nothing at all, not even the finish. I didn’t expect him to do more in the ring, and from the press conference beforehand, I was waiting for him to say ‘No Mas’.”
Lomachenko continued: “After the third round I knew it would not go the distance. I had felt his style, I knew what he could do. It was over.”
The Ukrainian refused to take too much credit for the victory – which was also Rigondeaux’s first defeat after rising two divisions from super-bantamweight – when asked if he should now be regarded as the Fighter of the Year.
“No!” he answered. “So what [if I have won three times in 2017]. They’re not big wins. Maybe they’re big wins for the fans but not for me. Rigondeaux should not have been fighting in this weight class, it’s not his size. So it wasn’t a big win for me.”
It is the fourth consecutive time Lomachenko has forced an opponent to quit on his stool.
“You can’t do anything with him,” said his promoter Bob Arum. “He’s untouchable.”
