By Miguel Rivera
WBA lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko said that he's not in the sport for business, but for entering the history books as one of the greatest. With this in mind, the Ukrainian boxer confirmed that should he beat Jose Pedraza on December 8 in New York, he would love nothing more than measuring himself against Mikey Garcia, whom he cataloged as one of the best fighters of the moment.
"People know you if you say something wrong, if you are talkative, but I do not fight for fame, for me the most important thing is to put my name in history," Lomachenko said to ESPN Deportes.
"My father explained to me... the important things in life, and money can end tomorrow - but with history they will not forget you. That's why, for me, boxing is a sport and not a business."
Although he congratulated Canelo Alvarez for his recent contract deal with DAZN, he does not view the Mexican fighter as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport.
For Lomachenko's list of the top 5 pound-for-pound boxers in the sport - excluding himself - he places WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in the number 1 slot. Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, who holds the WBC, WBA middleweight belts, is Loma's pick for the number 2 position. He tabs WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF, WBC cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk for the third position, while IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO heavyweight champion lands the fourth spot. And future opponent, WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia, is picked for the fifth position.
"For me Mikey is the fifth best in the world, Anthony Joshua is fourth, Oleksandr Usyk is third, Canelo is the second and Terence Crawford is the first... of course, without me being on the list because they already know my place," Lomachenko said as he smiled.