By Dan Ambrose: Teofimo Lopez says he thinks Vasily Lomachenko is being disrespected by the three other top lightweights – Ryan Garcia, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, and Devin Haney – because they now have an excuse to disregard him following his defeat last October to Teo.
Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) says Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) beats all three of those 135-pounders.
Teofimo says “they fear” Lomachenko, and “they know it that he would beat them all, which is why conveniently never mention his name. Lopez took care of their problem by beating a fighter that they couldn’t.
What’s disappointing is Ryan, Tank, and Haney never even tried to take on Lomachenko to prove themselves.
Instead, Teofimo showed courage by taking on Lomachenko and sending him down to defeat on October 17th. Rather than Ryan Garia and Tank talking of wanting to fight Lomachenko, they want to fight each other.
Teofimo wants Lomachenko to move forward
“I look forward to being solo the Fighter of The Year this year,” said Teofimo to Behind The Gloves. “No, it didn’t annoy me.
“Focus on what you got to do next; you lost. You can’t get that win back,” said Teofimo when asked about his thoughts on Vasily Lomachenko complaining about his loss to him.
“I think he needs to move forward. That’s what I’m trying to tell him through these interviews.
“Just move forward. Whether you stay in the 135-pound division, go and fight the likes of these three fighters [Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis] that they talk a lot about in my division.
“I think he’s [Lomachenko] a great champion, and I wish him more success,” said Teofimo.
You can understand why Lomachnko wouldn’t want to move on right now because he just suffered a massive defeat in losing to the 23-year-old Teofimo.
Lomachenko is 33 now, and he can’t afford to absorb losses like this without trying to avenge it.
Loma could change all that if he were to get a rematch with Teofimo, and beat him. But with Teo not interested in fighting Lomachenko again, a rematch isn’t possible.
You can argue that the main reason for Teofimo not fighting Lomachenko again is the fear involved with him losing.
In that respect, Teofimo is no different than Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Tank Davis, who wants nothing to do with Lomachenko. Their collective avoidance of Lomachenko betrays them. They’re all afraid, including Teofimo.
Lomachenko beats the other top lightweights
“It’s the way it is sometimes,” said Teofimo when asked why Lomachenko is no longer being mentioned among the best at 135 following his loss to him.
“You’re probably a king or a God to many people one day, and then the moment you lose, you’re forgotten.
“That’s the way it is now. They need to give him more credit. What happened to all that they were talking about?
“He was number one pound-for-pound. They made this guy [Lomachenko] seem like he could walk on water.
“But now he’s forgotten, and it shows a sign of disrespect. It shows you; it really does; it’s a humbling example.
“It shouldn’t take away from all that he’s achieved. He achieved a lot during his time. He’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and he’s a three-division world champion.
“He has a lot of things. A lot of times, they don’t mention him because Teofimo beat him. So they feel like, ‘Thank God, we don’t have to mention him anymore. We don’t have to talk about him, and we don’t have to fight him no more.’
“If Loma stays at 135, I believe he’ll beat every other guy in the division,” Teofimo said.
Lomachenko would likely beat those three lightweights. Ryan Garcia would be easy for Lomachenko because he stands straight up and has no defense. As for Haney, he’s a technical fighter with very little power and can be hit.
Ryan’s offense is his defense, and that’s not going to cut it against Lomachenko.
Teofimo: Lomachenko is feared
“Yep, absolutely,” said Lopez when asked if Lomachenko beats the other three top lightweights in Devin Haney, Tank Davis, and Ryan Garcia.
“If I wasn’t in the mix and we didn’t fight, he [Lomachenko] would beat those guys in a heartbeat, and I think they all know it.
“They fear him; they really do. And they all fear him. They really do. Even after beating Lomachenko, they still fear him.
“They don’t mention him anymore; they talk more about the likes of each other. They got to call me ‘Big Daddy’ from now on. I’m the papa,” said Lopez.
It’s very noticeable how Ryan Garcia, Tank Davis, and Devin Haney fail to mention wanting to fight Lomachenko.
You can interpret that in several ways, but it’s hard to dismiss the possibility that they’re afraid of Lomachenko.
Yeah, it’s also possible that those three lightweights are ignoring Lomachenko because he’s with Top Rank, and it would be tough to put a fight together with him because he fights on a different network, and he’s coming off a loss.
The likely real reason those three lightweights want nothing to do with Lomachenko is because of his talent and the high-risk of them losing to him.
Lopez: I didn’t allow Lomachenko to throw
“It could be,” said Teofimo about Lomachenko being beaten mentally before he got him in the ring.
“The eyes don’t lie. When we do a face-off, when I come to them, they feel it; they feel my energy.
“Real recognize real, and if they’re not real, well, they’ll recognize that I am. Sometimes that might intimidate them, and it did.
“They say, ‘You beat Loma, but he didn’t throw anything.’ That’s because I didn’t allow him to throw anything; that’s the difference.
“A lot of people downsize on that. Loma is a very technical fighter, a technician. He knows what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, but I didn’t allow him.
“A lot of people are going to take that as ‘He didn’t want to fight because he [Lomachenko] was hurt.’ No, it wasn’t that, but it’s okay.
“Moving forward, I will show what I’m capable of doing. Oh yes, people are always going to make excuses because sometimes they don’t like to see a young man prosper.
“They don’t like to see a young man do something he spoke out to do. But it’s always been like that with me. All I take from it is, I just got to keep winning.
“Sooner or later, if it’s not now, maybe in a couple of years, as I beat these guys that they want to see me face, eventually I will earn that.
“I’m all about earning things. I think just putting my foot on everybody’s neck, that’s my whole goal,” said Teofimo.
There are two sides to every story, and if we’re to go by what Teo’s saying, Loma, didn’t throw because he didn’t let him. But according to Lomachenko, he felt pain in his injured shoulder, and he didn’t want to fight through the pain.
Hence, he threw almost no punches in the first seven rounds. But when Lomachenko did begin fighting back from the eighth on, he got the better of a tired Teofimo in rounds 8, 9, 10, and 11.