By Edward Chaykovsky
WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) was more than ready to fire when he was informed of the recent comments that were made by WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs).
Last week, Garcia spoke with Brian Campbell of CBS Sports and explained why he wasn't impressed with Lomachenko's accomplishments and felt the two-time Olympic gold medal winner was getting way too much hype.
Garcia explained that he beat Orlando Salido, who gave Lomachenko his only career defeat. And he discussed how he knocked out Roman Martinez in 2014, and Lomachenko was getting a lot of praise for knocking out Martinez two years later.
“He got beat by an experienced, rugged fighter [Orlando Salido] and after that, he has improved a lot,” Garcia said. “He has a lot of credibility. But even at that, he’s only doing stuff that I already did three, four years ago.
“He couldn’t beat Salido, who I completely dominated. He wins his second world title, a title I had vacated that ends up going back to Rocky Martinez, the guy who I had previously knocked out. Then Vasyl Lomachenko knocks him out and all of a sudden he’s this greatest star because of victories that I already accomplished? Well, I don’t give him credit for that.”
Both Lomachenko and Garcia are recognized as being two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Lomachenko also spoke with Brian Campbell and not only explained why he wasn't impressed with Garcia's wins, but he also challenged Garcia to stay put at 135-pounds so they can get in the ring and settle their war of words the old fashioned way.
“Let’s talk about that. I read that interview when he was talking about that he destroyed Salido,” Lomachenko told Campbell. “I especially looked at that bout and he got lucky because he broke his nose. After the fourth or fifth round, Salido had already gotten to him and was ready to destroy.”
“If we want to talk about Rocky Martinez, let me ask you: Who was on the floor from Rocky Martinez? Yes, [Garcia] got a lucky punch and knocked him out in the eighth round, which I did in the fifth round. So we can talk about that as much as we can but if he wants to get my attention and he’s going to be staying at the 135, I’m going to come up at 135 too.
“If, right now, people are talking more about me, with me being the foreigner in this country, and not talking about him, that’s not a problem. We can meet in a few fights to find out who is better.”