By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Terence Crawford truly appreciates Vasyl Lomachenko’s skills.

He also understands why boxing fans and media have discussed them possibly fighting at some point. Crawford just can’t see it happening.

The undefeated Crawford fights two weight classes above Lomachenko. And by the time Lomachenko moves up to 135 pounds, Crawford might be headed to 147.

“Lomachenko just got to 130,” Crawford said. “And I’m at 140, about to go up to 147. So I don’t even see that fight being realistic. It’s just, once again, people see how good and technical Lomachenko is, and they see how good and technical Terence Crawford is. And they’ll look for the next person that they think can beat you, or could have a great match with you.

“So they’ll say, ‘OK, well, Lomachenko’s good and he’s doing this and doing that. Who’s the next guy that we would think he can [match] up to or he can beat or can beat him?’ Terence Crawford. He’s in the next weight. Then when they say Terence Crawford, ‘Oh, well Lomachenko or Errol Spence.’ That’s just how they’re gonna do it.”

Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, will return to the ring May 20, when he’ll defend his WBC/WBO super lightweight titles against the Dominican Republic’s Felix Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York. That fight was officially announced Tuesday during a press conference at the Garden.

Lomachenko’s next fight is set for Saturday night. The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine will defend his WBO world super featherweight title against Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs) at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

HBO will televise both the Lomachenko-Sosa and Crawford-Diaz fights.

The 29-year-old Crawford acknowledged that it provides some motivation when people say Lomachenko would beat him, “but at the same time that guy is little. I take no credit from him. He’s at 130, and he’s at 130 for a reason.

“If he was big enough, he would be at 135, 140, and he would be campaigning at them weights. Lomachenko’s a tremendous talent. But again, he’s at 130, I’m at 140.”

Crawford ranks Lomachenko in his top 10, pound-for-pound. He doesn’t think Lomachenko has accomplished enough in eight professional fights, though, to move him into the top five.

Nevertheless, Crawford doesn’t hold Lomachenko’s lone professional loss against him. Mexico’s Orlando Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs, 1 NC) defeated Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) by split decision in Lomachenko’s second pro bout, but came in more than two pounds overweight and employed questionable tactics at times in their 12-round fight three years ago in San Antonio.

“Salido was hitting him in the balls,” Crawford said, “and all kinds of stuff – cheating.”

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