Tag: Lightweight

Teofimo Lopez to prospective foe Vasiliy Lomachenko: ‘You ain’t no god’

Teofimo Lopez doesn’t much like Vasiliy Lomachenko’s character, the boxer said on a recent radio show…

Teofimo Lopez doesn’t like arrogant people. And he feels Vasiliy Lomachenko, a potential opponent, is one of them.

“People praise this guy (Lomachenko) like he’s a god, and that’s one thing I hate,” Lopez said during a recent appearance on the SiriusXM Boxing show. “You ain’t no god, you ain’t no god. There’s only one God, you know what I mean? That’s how I live by. You know, you could call yourself a king, by all means, be the pound-for-pound king, but man, this guy really thinks ….”

The newly-minted lightweight titleholder is expected to face Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) in a highly anticipated unification bout on May 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York, but contracts apparently have yet to be signed. Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank has insisted that the fight will be announced soon.

“Hopefully, it does happen,” said Lopez, who won a piece of the 135-pound crown last December against Richard Commey. “Yeah, it should happen. Obviously, it should. I don’t see no way around it. The only way it doesn’t happen is if it’s on [Lomachenko’s] side.”

It’s not just Lomachenko’s alleged self-importance than grates on the 22-year-old Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs). It’s the way the Ukrainian supposedly breaks the golden rule.

“Little by little, you know, fighting on his cards and s— like that, and I just started realizing stuff,” he said. “And then I started seeing how he treated some of the people in Top Rank, [commentator and host] Crystina Poncher, stuff like that. I didn’t like that very much, when we did the press conference and all that stuff.”

It’s just more grist for Lopez, who plans to prove his doubters wrong once more.

“A lot of people thought I wasn’t ready for Commey or I wasn’t ready for these types of fighters,” Lopez said. “Obviously, I just go out there and I show right there. Then I talk my s—, but I backed it up, you know? Same thing is going to go for the Loma fight.

“I’m just getting started. You know, [Lomachenko’s] on his way out. I’m on my way in. That’s how I look at it. You know what I mean?”

Teofimo Lopez plans to move up to 140 pounds this year

Teofimo Lopez won’t be long for the lightweight division. 2020 is all about unifying first, then moving up to junior welterweight.

Undefeated lightweight sensation Teofimo Lopez wants to become the undisputed champion of the 135-pound division, but he has no plans to remain as such for long.

Once he has unified the titles — or at least has attempted to do so — it’s on to a new weight class.

“I’m trying to get all the belts before I go to 140,” the 22-year-old Lopez told Boxing Junkie.

Lopez was crowned lightweight titleholder by knocking out Richard Commey in the second round last December at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Asked if the plan is to move up later this year, Lopez responded, “Absolutely.”

Of course, as it pertains to the immediate future, the Brooklyn-born Honduran-American has his hands full. He is slated to take on fellow titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko, who owns two lightweight belts, in the spring.

The Ukrainian is widely considered one of the great talents of this era, a natural 126-pounder who has won titles at 126, 130 and 135 with a rare combination of finesse and offensive firepower.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, said he is vetting site offers from Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center in Brooklyn and a delegation from Saudi Arabia. When asked which venue was the front runner, Lopez elected to stay mum on current negotiations.

“We’re trying to have it happen at the Garden, but I’m going to be political,” Lopez said. “My team and I are working on it. I’m letting them handle it. We’re trying to have it happen at the Garden. Some people want it in certain areas. … We’ll see.”

Lopez, who grew up in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn and now lives in nearby Bushwick, believes New York is the right place for the fight given the large Latino and Ukrainian constituencies.

“Of course [I want it at MSG],” Lopez said. “BK all day. That’s my people.”

Teofimo Lopez puts Richard Commey away in second round

Yuriorkis Gamboa sustained complete Achilles tear, to have surgery

Yuriorkis Gamboa suffered a complete right Achilles tear, according to a medical report he posted on his Twitter account Monday.

Yuriorkis Gamboa claimed that he ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the second round of his lightweight bout against Gervonta Davis on Dec. 28. It appears he was right.

According to a medical report posted on his Twitter account, the Cuban lightweight sustained a “complete tear through the Achilles tendon with associated retraction of approximately 3.0 cm.”

The injury was diagnosed by radiologist Dr. Eric M. Godreau in Miami, where Gamboa lives.

Gamboa’s advisor, Tony Gonzalez, told ESPN.com that the fighter will have surgery in the next several weeks.

“That he was able to fight for as long as he did with this injury is incredible,” Gonzalez told the website. “From everything I have read and videos I have watched about this kind of injury, he wasn’t supposed to be able to do what he did. Speaking to him in my office when the dust settled, I asked him, ‘How were you able to do this?’ He told me when he went down in the second round is when he felt the pain. He said the shot [from Davis] didn’t put him down. He said he was fine. He said, ‘What put me down was I felt a snap in the back of my leg. When I got up, I started looking at the back of my leg.’ It’s amazing. I’m without words.

“He wasn’t supposed to even go to the third round with this kind of injury. If he is at 100 percent, connect the dots. We believe a rematch is warranted. He couldn’t move laterally the way he wanted to, couldn’t sit down on his punches. Gamboa at 100 percent wasn’t even supposed to last four or five rounds. But he had a Grade 3 rupture and went to the 12th round. I’ve never seen anything like it with this type of his injury. We are not trying to tarnish what Gervonta did but Gamboa feels being 100 percent it would have been a completely different fight. He knows it, I know it, Davis knows it.”

 

How Gamboa managed to go 11-and-a-half rounds on a bum Achilles is anyone’s guess. If nothing else, the report boosts Gamboa’s considerable moxie in that fight. Conversely, it further underscores Davis’ less than impressive performance in an otherwise successful promotion in his adopted hometown of Atlanta. Although Davis ended up knocking out Gamboa in the 12th round, the hard-hitting Baltimore native appeared lethargic at times and unable to put away a fighter long past his prime.

Not surprisingly, Gamboa called out Davis for a rematch, writing, “I went 12 with Davis and did my best under the circumstances. Like I said, lets dance again when I’m at 100.”

Teofimo Lopez on Vasiliy Lomachenko: ‘I don’t leave it to the judges’

Teofimo Lopez made a brief appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter to talk about his projected fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko later this year.

Consider it the first leg in the promotion of an intriguing lightweight bout.

Newly crowned 135-pound titleholder Teofimo Lopez appeared on ESPN’s SportCenter to talk about his projected unification bout with Vasiliy Lomachenko this year. Lopez noted that the fight is not yet a done deal.

“We’re still negotiating right now,” Lopez said. “We’re still negotiating on where the location is going to be. Hopefully we’ll get that sorted out so that we can make that type of fight happen, especially this year. New decade, new year, I think we start it off with a bang.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOwlSrNByQ

Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) is coming off a career-best win over Richard Commey, whom he knocked out inside two rounds on the Terence Crawford-Egidijus Kavaliauskas card Dec. 14 at Madison Square Garden. Lopez, who was born to Honduran parents in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, would like to see the Lomachenko fight land in New York. Promoter Bob Arum recently stated that in addition to MSG, he has had competing offers from Barclays Center and Saudi Arabia to stage the fight.

“New York, the Garden, is always my home,” Lopez said. “But to me anywhere. I think fight fans will enjoy it anywhere no matter where it is.” 

Indeed, more than simply a fight to settle the best at 135, Lomachenko-Lopez figures to be equally satisfying from an entertainment standpoint, pairing the come-forward dexterity of Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound and Lopez’s explosiveness. Lopez believes his style will be responsible for providing most of the fun. 

“My thing is I don’t leave it to the judges,” Lopez said. “I don’t try to look pretty while doing it [like Lomachenko]. I go in there and look to take out my opponent.”

Gervonta Davis pours cold water over Vasiliy Lomachenko bout

Don’t get you hopes up for seeing a Gervonta Davis-Vasiliy Lomachenko lightweight fight anytime soon.

A lightweight bout between Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko could be one of the great matchups the sport has to offer.

But you may as well shut it out of your mind considering that Davis recently poured a bucket of icy cold water over the potential mega bout.

Davis made his feelings clear during a post-fight press conference on Saturday night after he knocked out Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. He cited his ability to draw better at the gate and relative youth as reasons the fight isn’t a priority.

“I feel like no one is above me,” Davis responded when asked if he would pursue a fight with Lomachenko. “I’m the cash cow, I believe so, at 135, 130. I’m selling out [arenas] and putting butts in the seat, so. I don’t think he’s doing that. Line ’em up. I’m a fighter, willing to fight anybody.”

It was a disappointing and evasive response that seemed to reinforce the sport’s political division. Lomachenko is a flagship fighter under Top Rank, while Davis is aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions. Both entities have their own exclusive output deals, which makes cross-promotional fights that much harder to consummate.

No one is disputing that Davis is a budding star. The Baltimore native drew a reported 14,000 to the fight in Atlanta, a city deprived of significant boxing cards in recent years. He is clearly resonating with African-Americans, which apparently includes a number of noted denizens from the Hip Hop world. But Davis has yet to headline his own pay-per-view card. ( Leonard Ellerbe told reporters that they would seek to put Davis on that platform in 2020, presumably against Leo Santa Cruz). And while drawing upwards of 10,000 spectators to an arena is commendable these days, it is hardly jaw-dropping.

Davis continued: “I’m not trying to be cocky, but (fighters want to fight me because) it’s a big risk, but it’s also a big payday. (Lomachenko is) at the end of his career, I believe so. Well, he’s up in age, and he’s trying to make the biggest fights that he can make in a short period of time. Everybody has their different path. I’m only 25 year old. My stretch is a little longer than his, so we’re taking our time.”

The comments were in stark contrast to what Davis told TMZ this past summer when confronted with the same question. Would he welcome a fight with Lomachenko?

“I think I’m old enough to take on the challenge,” Davis said. “I have enough skills. I’m maturing as a fighter as a person. I think it’s time.

“… [Lomachenko-Davis is] probably one of the biggest fights. Me and [Lomachenko] or Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, those are the two biggest fights we can make in boxing.”