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?”