By Elisinio Castillo
In the last few weeks, tense words have been traded between WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) and WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs).
The two fighters, who are ranked among the best pound for pound boxers in the sport, are interested in facing each other in the near future. But at the moment they are fighting in different weight divisions.
Garcia captured the WBC crown in January with a vicious three round knockout of undefeated champion Dejan Zlaticanin.
Lomachenko will defend his title next Saturday night, against former WBA champion Jason Sosa.
In a recent interview, Garcia - who defeated Orlando Salido and Roman Martinez - told Brian Campbell of CBS Sports that he wasn't impressed with Lomachenko and felt the two-time Olympic champion is being overhyped.
“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.”
If it's a fight that Lomachenko wants, a fight is exactly what he will get - as long as he moves to the lightweight limit of 135.
Garcia is so serious about facing Lomachenko that he's even willing to delay his future plan of moving up to junior welterweight.
"If he decides to go up to 135 pounds, then I have no problem [fighting him]. It would certainly be an attractive fight, which people would want to see. If he makes the jump from 130 to 135 pounds, I wait there [at 135] and welcome him," Garcia told George Ebro.
