To hell with easy fights.
First Errol Spence Jr. decided to defend his welterweight title against Danny Garcia in the fall even though he was in a horrific car accident in October. Now, according to ESPN, Vasiliy Lomachenko plans to fight Teofimo Lopez in a lightweight title-unification bout in the fall on pay-per-view.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum spoke with ESPN after talking to the handlers of both fighters.
“In talking with Lomachenko and Lopez, neither of them want an interim fight,” Arum said. “So we would plan to do that in September, with or without an audience.”
Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager, confirmed that his fighter wants Lopez and will do it without spectators if the coronavirus threat requires it.
“Nothing matters, as long as Lopez is coming in the ring with Lomachenko,” Klimas told ESPN.
Teofimo Lopez Sr., the fighter’s father, evidently feels the same way.
“One-hundred percent,” the elder Lopez said. “We don’t need no tune-ups. We are focused with Lomachenko. That’s all we want … Lomachenko.”
Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) is Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound. The supremely gifted two-time Olympic champion has won major titles in three divisions in only 15 fights.
The 32-year-old Ukrainian is coming off a one-sided decision over Luke Campbell in August, his third defense of the 135-pound title he won by stopping Jorge Linares in May 2018.
Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) is an honorable mention on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list even though he’s only 22. The slick, big-punching Honduran-American won his first major title when he stopped Richard Commey in two rounds in December.
Lomachenko and Lopez were in discussions earlier this year to fight on May 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City but those plans were put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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