Regardless of the entertainment value that comes with the latest round of trash talk, Vasiliy Lomachenko swears he’s heard it all before.
The three-division and reigning unified lightweight titlist from Ukraine has done his best to avoid a war of words with Teofimo Lopez ahead of their highly anticipated October 17 championship clash in Las Vegas. The vows made by Brooklyn’s Lopez (15-0, 12KOs) has served as a focal point in the buildup to their ESPN headliner, though largely viewed as empty promises by Lomachenko whose cultural upbringing doesn’t quite marry up with how verbal threats are otherwise celebrated.
“At home, we don’t have such strict rules. Here in the states, there is a strict law. Back home, if you say something insulting, you can get hit in a fist fight right in the street,” Lomachenko noted during a recent media Zoom conference call to discuss the upcoming event. “Nothing will happen. You can just walk away.
“Here in the United States, it’s different. Back home, you can’t run your mouth because something will happen.”
To his credit, Lopez has chalked up the talk to simply selling the event although he has every intention of backing up his words. None of what has been offered has been for the sake of selling wolf tickets, or so suggests the unbeaten IBF lightweight titlist.
“I’m not trying to get under his skin, I’m just trying to be outspoken,” Lopez noted during his own conference call on Monday. “If it gets under his skin, great. I’m just trying to promote the damn fight. I know Lomachenko doesn’t do a lot of talking. He doesn’t speak it a lot of English, him being Ukrainian.
“It’s not so much to get under his skin or anything. If anything, my father may be one of those guys because they had their own altercation in person. Honestly, it’s just the way I am. It’s who I am.”
Lomachenko prefers to reveal who he is, in the ring rather than during the press buildup. In the ring is where he has collected two Olympic Gold medals amidst accolades as among the greatest amateur boxers of all time. The 32-year old southpaw has also earned five major titles spanning three weight divisions and just 15 fights in the pro ranks, with most of the top opposition never coming close to inflicting the type of pain they guaranteed to be the case prior to the opening bell.
“I heard this a lot of times from a lot of boxers,” Lomachenko said of Lopez’s pre-fight promises. “But then you come in the ring, and you forgot your words. You forgot your promise. You just try boxing, you just try fighting.
“For me it’s just trash talk. It’s just words. We will see what happens.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox