Vasiliy Lomachenko Says Teofimo Lopez Is Undisputed Champion In His Eyes
As far as Vasiliy Lomachenko is concerned, rival Teofimo Lopez is the undisputed lightweight champion in boxing.
Lomachenko last competed in October when he lost his lightweight titles to Lopez after a 12-round war.
However, given that Lomachenko was the WBC franchise champion at the time, Lopez wasn’t officially undisputed despite holding four titles with Devin Haney currently being the owner of the WBC lightweight title.
But that doesn’t matter to Lomachenko who views Lopez as the current 135-pound king (via Michael Benson).
“For me, Teofimo Lopez is undisputed because I fought with him, I hold three belts,” Lomachenko said. “He wins this fight and took three of my belts. The IBF he had, so he’s undisputed, no question. [Devin Haney’s belt] is WBC politics. I don’t care.”
Haney has been looking to unify with Lopez after coming off a unanimous decision win over Jorge Linares.
While Lomachenko was impressed with the American’s performance, he did note Haney’s struggles towards the end of the fight when Linares wobbled him.
“It was a very good fight,” Lomachenko added. “He showed us his skill. He’s a very smart boxer, but he had a problem end of the fight.
“Last three rounds was very hard for him… He won this fight, no question, but it was not easy.”
Lomachenko, meanwhile, is set to return on June 26 when he takes on Masayoshi Nakatani.