By Adam Baskin: Vasily Lomachenko is taking massive criticism from fans today over his comments about him viewing himself as still undefeated as a pro despite suffering losses to Orlando Salido and Teofimo Lopez.
Fans see Lomachenko as incapable of admitting that he failed and is still in denial about those two defeats. As such, Loma is trying to make sense of what happened in his losses to Salido & Teofimo.
Lomachenko is a classic example of someone trying to deal with grief over his losses in an unhealthy way. Loma is trapped in the denial stage and hasn’t reached the more advanced acceptance stage.
Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) says he deserved wins over Salido in 2014 and Teofimo in 2020 because those two fighters hit him repeatedly with low blows. In other words, they should have had point deductions, which would
Given the lopsided scores in favor of Teofimo in his 12-round unanimous decision victory over Lomachenko, there would have needed a ton of point deductions for Loma to win that fight. The judges’ scores for Teofimo vs. Loma:
- 116-112
- 119-109
- 117-111
Lomachenko claims he didn’t lose any fights
“Look, in my mind; I didn’t lose any fight in professional boxing. That’s why I sleep very well. Undefeated? Yes. In my mind, yes,” said Vasily Lomachenko to the Fight Hub TV when asked if he thought to himself, ‘How did I lose to Salido? I’m so much better. How did this happen?’
“If you understand boxing, you saw a situation with Salido. During the fight, how many low blows was? I didn’t think I lost on the points. That’s why. I said before the same situation with [Teofimo] Lopez. I didn’t feel I lost this fight,” said Lomachenko.
Loma: “This is my last chance” at undisputed
“I said four belts; this is my last chance. That’s my motivation,” said 35-year-old Loma, about this being his last opportunity to fight for an undisputed championship.
“Everybody knows if I lose this fight, Haney will go into the next weight classes. I think so because he’s too big, and he said before and all belts will be vacated. I don’t know when the next time it’s going to happen.
“I don’t have a name. I just have Haney now,” said Lomachnko when asked who he wanted to fight next if he successfully beats Devin on May 20th.
“After this loss as a professional, I’m thinking that anything can happen in the ring,” said Lomachenko about his thoughts after his loss to Orlando Salido in his second pro fight in 2014.
