Lomachenko talks Gervonta Davis, going back down to 130

By Boxing News - 12/31/2019 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Vasyl Lomachenko says he’s not going to move up in weight any further if/when he unifies the 135-lb division. Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) he’s gone up as high as he can go in fighting at lightweight, and his next move after unifying the lightweight division is to potentially go back down to super featherweight if his promoter can setup a big fight with someone in that weight class.

WBA/WBC [F]/WBO lightweight champion Lomachenko will be fighting IBF champion Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) in April or May of 2020. The fight is said to be a done deal, and they just need a concrete date and venue for when it’s to take place.

Loma talking about wanting to move down to 130

Lomachenko isn’t saying anything about wanting to stick around at lightweight after that to face WBC 135-lb champion Devin Haney or WBA ‘regular’ champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. All the lions are gunning for Lomachenko, and now he’s talking about wanting to move down to 130. Is Lomachenko running from the young lions or does he see the grass as being greener on the other side?

Lomachenko says he can go back down to 130

“In the future, if my promoter can make a fight with a top fighter at 130, I can go down,” said Lomachenko to THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas.

“I can lose my weight, and fight with a top fighter at 130. No,” said Lomachenko when asked if he can fight at welterweight [147]. “Now, it’s my limit [at 135], because 135 is not my natural weight,” said Lomachenko.

The bigger fights are there for Lomachenko at 135, 140 and 147. If Loma moves back down to super featherweight, he would be limited to fighting these guys:

  • Jamel Herring
  • Miguel Berchelt
  • Oscar Valdez

Those are good fighters, but none of them have a big fan base. They’re known by the hardcore boxing fans in the States, but not the casual fans. Berchelt might be the best of the three, but he’s not super popular in the U.S. The positive about Lomachenko moving back down to 130 is that his promoters at Top Rank can make those three fights, because they promote all three.

Staying where he’s at, Lomachenko can fight guys at 135, 140 and 147. That would mean these fighters would be potential options for Lomachenko:

  • Regis Prograis
  • Josh Taylor
  • Jose Ramirez
  • Ivan Baranchyk
  • Terence Crawford
  • Shawn Porter
  • Danny Garcia
  • Errol Spence Jr.
  • Manny Pacquiao
  • Keith Thurman

There’s a lot more money to be made for Lomachenko in fighting those guys than the three super featherweights from the Top Rank stable.

Lomachenko wants the top guys for history

“I’m 31-years-old, and I’m not 20-years-old,” Lomachenko said in making it clear that he’s not willing to move up to 147 for big fights. They are businessmen, they are not Athlete,” said Lomachenko about Gervonta Davis and his manager Floyd Mayweather Jr. in response to Floyd saying, ‘why should we fight Lomachenko? He’s only getting older, and we can make the same amount of money fighting other people.’

“They are making money. I’m an Athlete,” said Lomachenko. “I want to fight with the top fighters, and I want to fight with the top guys for history. For my history, and for boxing history. That’s why we can make fights,” said Lomachenko.

Gervonta Davis isn’t a guy that Lomachenko feels confident of fighting, as he sees him and his management more as businessmen. Lomachenko sees himself as an athlete, who is looking to get the biggest fights. However, if that is indeed true, then Lomachenko should have kept his WBC lightweight title, and defended the belt against his mandatory Devin Haney, and then looked to face Ryan Garcia.

The way that Lomachenko did it, he gave up his WBC title, and took the Franchise tag. He’ll now be facing Teofimo Lopez next, and then it looks like he’s going to move back down to 130.

Klimas says Lomachenko doesn’t struggle to make weight

“It’s the politics, it’s the networks,” said Lomachenko’s manager Egis Klimas to The Fight with Teddy Atlas. “That’s why he went to the different weight classes, because this promoter has this guy, and this guy belongs to another network. So 126-130, we couldn’t collect all the belts. But I think at 135, the next time we do this broadcast with you, Teddy, we’re going to need two more tables to put the two more belts here,” said Klimas about Lomachenko.

“He doesn’t even have to [struggle] to make the 135 weight,” said Klimas about Lomachenko. “He can easily [make it]. In the beginning, it was very hard, because nobody wants to fight a guy 5-0, 3-1, but now that he’s already established pound-for-pound #1, everybody knows that in fighting Lomachenko, ‘we can make money,’ and I think right now it’s a little bit easier than it used to be,” said Klimas.

Lomachenko will get a lot of attention in fighting Teofimo next, but his popularity could fall off if he doesn’t continue to face the guys the fans want to see. The guys that Lomachenko is going to wind up fighting after Teofimo aren’t going to do much for his popularity, because they’re talented but they have no fan base in the U.S. Berchelt is from Mexico, and he’s popular there to a certain extent, but in America. Herring is a talented guy, but no fan base to speak of. Tevin Farmer likely won’t fight Lomachenko.

Atlas: Lomachenko won’t go to 147

“He’s won 3 division world titles, 126, 130 and 135,” said Atlas about Lomachenko. “That’s enough, and he wouldn’t go to welterweight, he’d go to 140, junior welterweight. But his body and his size, it’s little,” said Atlas about Lomachenko’s frame.

Teddy Atlas doesn’t think Lomachenko would go to 147, but he should think about it. There’s some really great fights for Lomachenko if he moves up. Manny Pacquiao weighs about the same as Lomachenko after he rehydrates, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t fight him. Pacquiao is faster, stronger and can do everything Lomachenko can do. That would be a good fight if Lomachenko were willing to move up to face him.

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