Lomachenko vs. Lopez – Page 6 – Syndication Server

Teofimo Lopez: ‘We’re going to put some damage on (Lomachenko)’

The fact that Teofimo Lopez Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko are set to meet on Oct. 17 hasn’t prompted Lopez to curtail his verbal assault.

Teofimo Lopez Jr. has no intention of curbing his recent run of knockout victories just because his next opponent is Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Lopez and Lomachenko are scheduled to do battle in a lightweight title-unification bout on Oct. 17 in Las Vegas. The matchup is one that both parties have wanted to get done as soon as possible despite the COVID-19 pandemic grinding live sports to a halt for the better part of six months.

Brooklyn’s Lopez, who finished six of his last seven victories inside the scheduled distance, has bombarded Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) with trash talk for a long time. And even though the contracts have been signed, he continued to do so in one of his first media appearances since Top Rank confirmed the Vegas bubble show.

“Oh hell yeah, I gotta knock this guy out, man. Everybody loves knockouts, why not?” Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) told ESPN’s First Take. “What I do is very exciting. I’m a young, hungry fighter. A lot of people may call me arrogant, but when it comes to my sport, I’m very good at what I do.”

Later during the interview, however, Lopez interestingly was less emphatic about his prediction of stopping the man who made four consecutive opponents quit in 2016 and 2017 to earn the nickname “No-mas-chenko”.

“I’m not going to look for that knockout. If it comes, it comes. But I trust my abilities,” he said. “I’m only getting stronger, and the fact that we’ve rested for this long, it’s going to be a bad night for this man. … I think both of us probably needed the rest. It’s going to be a great fight to watch.”

Lomachenko’s knockouts of Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux doesn’t particularly faze Lopez either, it seems.

“The guys that he’s faced and made quit were just too scared of everything he was able to do to them,” Lopez said. “I’m a big 135 pounder. I can be fighting at 140 right now. I’m very comfortable at this weight. Everything that this man does that they say, he’s decreasing. I’m not even in my prime yet and I’m out here just outdoing guys.

“He’s on his way out, and it’s showing. Your body can only take so much damage, and I guarantee you we’re going to put some damage on this man.”

[lawrence-related id=13684,13650,13446]

Teofimo Lopez: ‘We’re going to put some damage on (Lomachenko)’

The fact that Teofimo Lopez Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko are set to meet on Oct. 17 hasn’t prompted Lopez to curtail his verbal assault.

Teofimo Lopez Jr. has no intention of curbing his recent run of knockout victories just because his next opponent is Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Lomachenko’s knockouts of Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux doesn’t particularly faze Lopez either, it seems.

“He’s on his way out, and it’s showing. Your body can only take so much damage, and I guarantee you we’re going to put some damage on this man.”

[lawrence-related id=13684,13650,13446]

Vasiliy Lomachenko arrives in U.S. for Teofimo Lopez clash

Vasiliy Lomachenko has arrived in the U.S. to continue training for his Oct. 17 lightweight title unification fight against Teofimo Lopez.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has arrived in the U.S. to continue training for his Oct. 17 lightweight title unification fight against Teofimo Lopez. And he reportedly is pumped.

The 32-year-old Ukrainian star, ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound by Boxing Junkie, landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday night. He’ll hold camp at his home gym in Camarillo, about a one-hour drive north of downtown L.A.

“He was in a very happy mood,” Egis Klimas, the fighter’s manager, told ESPN. “We called Bob [Arum], and we said, ‘Bob, Loma is here,’ and Bob gave us a little speech about how happy everybody is, excited about [the fight], and Loma just said a couple of words: ‘Bob, I can’t wait for Oct. 17.'”

“… It’s the most excited he’s ever been for a fight because he says, ‘Finally, we are in a fight everyone is waiting for.’ Because even before, they were good fights, [but] people weren’t talking about it. But this fight everybody is waiting for.”

Klimas believes we haven’t seen the best of Lomachenko.

“Let me tell you: Nobody has seen Vasiliy in the ring more than 65 percent of what he can do because he has never had any opponents who could push him in the ring,” he said. “Nobody can push him with what he needs to show what he can do 100 percent. So we never saw who really Lomachenko is.”

Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) holds three of the four major 135-pound titles, including the WBC’s “franchise” title. He’s coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Luke Campbell in August of last year.

Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) holds the IBF belt. He last fought this past December, when he stopped Richard Commey in two rounds to win his title.

The fight will take place inside the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas. It will be televised on ESPN.

Vasiliy Lomachenko arrives in U.S. for Teofimo Lopez clash

Vasiliy Lomachenko has arrived in the U.S. to continue training for his Oct. 17 lightweight title unification fight against Teofimo Lopez.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has arrived in the U.S. to continue training for his Oct. 17 lightweight title unification fight against Teofimo Lopez. And he reportedly is pumped.

Klimas believes we haven’t seen the best of Lomachenko.

Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) holds the IBF belt. He last fought this past December, when he stopped Richard Commey in two rounds to win his title.

The fight will take place inside the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas. It will be televised on ESPN.

Report: Lomachenko-Lopez fight teetering on collapse

Is the Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez lightweight title-unification fight in danger of falling apart?

Lopez has rejected an offer of more than $1.2 million and is prepared to walk away from the fight, according to The Athletic. Lomachenko, No. 1 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, reportedly accepted in excess of $3.25 million for the fight, which is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 3 in Las Vegas.

Lopez was told that he will make a fraction of that amount if he were to defend his title against someone else, per The Athletic report.

“We’re working on it,” Top Rank President Todd duBoef told the outlet. “We started our conversations earlier this week and we’re working on coming to terms to make the match.”

If the fight falls apart, we might never see it. Lomachenko, a small 135-pounder, has said he wants to move down to 130. Meanwhile, Lopez will soon make the move to 140.

The fight was supposed to have taken place on May 30 at Madison Square Garden but it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com that the fight might not be televised on pay-per-view, as expected. It could land on ESPN+, the sports network’s streaming service. No decision has been made.

Teofimo Lopez could stay at 135 after Vasiliy Lomachenko fight

Teofimo Lopez said he could stay at 135 pounds after he fights Vasiliy Lomachenko because of the opportunities in that division.

The assumption has been that Teofimo Lopez would move up to 140 pounds whether he wins, loses or draws in his lightweight tile-unification fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Lopez has admittedly had trouble making the 135-pound limit. However, after the Lomachenko fight, tentatively set for Oct. 3, there are many big fights to be made in the division. Lopez could potentially square off with rising stars Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis.

Lopez said on DAZN’s “Boxing with Chris Mannix” that he would be willing to stay at lightweight if fights against those names could materialize.

“Absolutely,” Lopez said. “I think with the Richard Commey fight, I made weight very easy. I didn’t expect it to be that easy. I know I can definitely make 135 again very smooth.

“I just need to make sure ‘Little Diva’ (Lomachenko) isn’t hiding in Egis’ (Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager) room in his guest house during this quarantine because he’s out there right now. People think he’s in Ukraine, but he’s not. He’s in [Los Angeles]. He’s back.

With those names mentioned, along with Lopez and Lomachenko, the lightweight division has become one of the most star-studded weight classes. And should Lopez defeat arguably the best fighter pound-for-pound to become the unified champion, then “The Lopez Era” will be underway.

“You have Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, ‘Tank Davis,” Lopez said. “The list goes on and on. These guys all have something, some type of attribute that makes the fans want to see them more. I’m very happy to be in that era now.

“Teofimo Lopez is the one that’s definitely going to take over. How we’re going to start, it is with this guy (Lomachenko) on Oct. 3.”

Video: Teofimo Lopez ready for Oct. 3 clash with Vasiliy Lomachenko

Teofimo Lopez reiterated that the target date for his lightweight title-unification showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko is Oct. 3.

Teofimo Lopez reiterated that the target date for his lightweight title-unification showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko is Oct. 3, although contracts have yet to been signed.

And while it’s presumed that the fight will take place in the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas, the home of Top Rank’s shows during the coronavirus pandemic, Lopez holds out hope that spectators will be allowed to watch the fight in person.

This matchup, he said on the Boxing with Chris Mannix show, is too big to be staged behind closed doors.

The fight was originally targeted for March 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and then moved to Sept. 19 but was pushed back both times because of COVID-19.

Here’s Mannix’s interview with Lopez. Video courtesy of DAZN.

[jwplayer Y1hrNbkZ]

[lawrence-related id=11483,11152,10020]

Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez appears set for Sept. 19

Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez appear to be headed toward a Sept. 19 showdown.

That’s the date Top Rank’s Bob Arum gave ESPN for the lightweight title-unification bout that was supposed to have taken place on May 30 at Madison Square Garden. It was canceled because of the coronavirus.

The September fight likely would take place behind closed doors, which reportedly is OK with both fighters.

Arum, who promotes both of them, said they want to fight before the end of the year.

“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.”

Added Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager: “Nothing matters. As long as Lopez is coming in the ring with Lomachenko.”

Arum has said Lomachenko-Lopez would be a pay-per-view event because of its magnitude.

Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) last fought last October, when he defeated Luke Campbell by a unanimous decision. Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) is coming off his biggest victory, a second-round knockout of Richard Commey that earned him one of the 135-pound titles in December.

Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez plan to fight one another in fall

Vasiliy Lomachenko plans to fight Teofimo Lopez in a lightweight title-unification bout in the fall on pay-per-view.

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.

Vasiliy Lomachenko (left) outpointed Luke Campbell to retain his lightweight title in August. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

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.

Teofimo Lopez plans to move up to 140 pounds this year

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

Teofimo Lopez frustrated with Vasiliy Lomachenko’s demands