WBO super-featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko has hit back at Cuban star Guillermo Rigondeaux’s claim that the Ukrainian avoided him when he was a featherweight world champion.
“We all can’t believe in that nonsense. There is a video of one of the reporters asking him ‘Would you like to fight Vasyl Lomachenko?’ when he was at 126. He said to the reporter ‘Wait a second, what weight am I fighting?’ and the reporter said 122 and he said, ‘Well what kind of questions do we have? I am at 122.’ It is on video on YouTube – anybody can find it. It’s not the truth,” Lomachenko declared. “I agree that it is a historical bout, it is an interesting bout and most importantly it is an interesting bout for me. A lot of time was spent to make this bout. For a while it was never happening and finally it happened. It is very, very interesting and all of the boxing fans wanted to see the bout and finally we can deliver it.
“I have a plan in my head, a picture of what I am going to do but I don’t think it would be too smart to talk about it right now. I think it is better one time to see than 100 times to say.”
Lomachenko is expecting a negative performance from Rigondeaux when they box on December 9. “When he goes forward he falls down in the ring. I don’t think he’s going to be doing that,” the Ukrainian said. “I said I am going to walk through him like a tank. They are two different things. I am going to walk through him like a tank and knock him out. They are two different impressions. I am like every single fighter – going into the ring I have in my mind finish the bout before all the rounds are over and to get the victory before that. There is a good possibility that the fight will end before the 12th round. I am not promising to knock him out but I am promising to squash him.”
Lomachenko is not confident that he will get a rematch with Orlando Salido, the only man to beat him as a professional, even though he wants the fight. “Yes, sure but I don’t think he’s going to fight me because he already found, to him, a good excuse. He’s been saying, “I don’t need this bout. Lomachenko needs this bout. So because Lomachenko needs this bout you need to pay me good money.” That is just his excuse,” the Ukrainian said, “and Salido is nobody now.”
