LAS VEGAS – They hugged and talked it out.

Teofimo Lopez and his father say they have moved on from the issue that made the IBF lightweight champion extremely emotional during an interview with ESPN that aired this week. Lopez surprisingly stated that his relationship with his father is “not the same” and that he is “hurt” because he wanted Teofimo Sr. to be more father than trainer sometimes.

Lopez spoke with ESPN nearly two months ago for the interview the network showed during its live telecast Wednesday night of the press conference for his huge fight Saturday night versus Vasiliy Lomachenko.

“That was towards the beginning of camp,” Lopez explained to BoxingScene.com. “You know, things were kinda hot and hard. Things were kinda hot with me and my father. Something happened during my birthday [July 30] and stuff like that. So, you learn from it. You know, we’ve talked. We got to have that father-and-son conversation, so I feel thankful about that. So, we’re on a whole different mindset now. That’s in the past. Him and I are no longer like that. We never were – it’s just camp.”

While seated on stage inside MGM Grand Conference Center, the 23-year-old Lopez looked directly at his dad once that two-minute interview was shown. The younger Lopez knew ESPN would show the interview, but his father hadn’t seen it until it aired on live television.

“It was very hard to watch,” Lopez Sr. said. “But I talked to him about it and, you know, he just wasn’t in the right place at that time. You know, maybe he was angry at me because of something, but I’ve been a great father to him, man. I don’t know where he got that from. I mean, everywhere I would go – to the store, to the beach, to the pool – every day we was doing something together. It was not always only boxing. When we had to train, we trained. When we had to party, we partied. And he knows that, you know? And that’s why he feels bad about what he said.

“But they’re gonna use it to try to play mind games with us, you know, try to make us fight. And I told him, ‘I love you. I don’t care what you said. Because as long as I know God knows what I did with you, I don’t give a damn what any man thinks. You know?’ They’re not gonna hurt us. Me and him are in a good place right now. We’re going to do something that nobody has ever done in boxing, unify all the belts at 135. Nobody’s ever done it. We’re gonna do it Saturday. I can’t wait.”

They’ll try to beat another father-son combination Saturday night. Anatoly Lomachenko has trained his son throughout his career as an amateur and professional, in which he has won world titles in three weight classes and two Olympic gold medals.

The Lomachenkos are much more reserved than Lopez and his dad, thus they don’t reveal many personal details about their relationship. The younger Lopez would’ve preferred if the aforementioned interview didn’t air, but he realizes it provided another storyline in advance of what already was a much-anticipated fight.

“My personal life don’t matter right now,” Lopez said. “What matters is getting this fight done, and becoming undisputed world champion.”

Ukraine’s Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) is a 4-1 favorite to beat Brooklyn’s Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) in their 12-round, 135-pound title unification match. They’ll fight for Lomachenko’s WBA, WBC franchise and WBO titles and Lopez’s IBF belt (ESPN; ESPN Deportes; ESPN+; 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.