By Steve Kim
Its not clear if WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) and WBA super bantamweight titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux (18-0, 12 KOs) will ever meet inside the ring, but their representatives are certainly not afraid to spar verbally.
After Lomachenko's manager, Egis Klimas, made it clear that a fight between the two superlative boxers would have to take place at 130 pounds, Rigondeaux's manager accepted the ultimatum in an article that appeared earlier on BoxingScene.com.
"We accept your offer to fight at 130-pounds. Best fight the best at any weight and Rigo is the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound. So here you go Team Lomachenko - your bluff has been called. Now it's your turn to either fold or call. And I seem to believe after what Andre Ward did to Egis' other fighter this past weekend, I guarantee they will fold," Bornote said in a statement to BoxingScene.com.
To which Klimas then responded shortly afterwords - "Egis Klimas does not fight in the ring, Egis Klimas is not making a fight, Egis Klimas has promoters who are making a fight. Rigondeaux and his team knows Top Rank's number. If Top Rank will come to me and say Rigondeaux is ready to fight then I will approve that fight together with Lomachenko."
The highly regarded Ukrainian is scheduled to fight in August but is looking for a suitable opponent.
"If they're going to come, Top Rank, and they're going to say,'they want to fight' and make a deal with Top Rank, Top Rank will come back to us and we will approve the fight. I don't have any problems," said Klimas, who reiterated - "I don't go and fight and train, I don't make the fight That's what we have promoters for but if they want to come in and fight at 130 - we have no problem. We will be very happy.
"If they make the August date, we're very happy to fight Rigondeaux."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
