Teofimo Lopez has his own selfish reasons for a fight with Vasilily Lomachenko to land at Madison Square Garden.
It’s a request that will come with the support of many in the boxing industry, since it’s precisely where such a fight belongs.
The recently crowned lightweight titlist is still enjoying a victory lap for his 2nd round knockout of Richard Commey last December to claim his first major title as a pro. The fight took place at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, with the main room and the accompanying Hulu Theater playing host to six of his 15 pro fights to date along with four Lomachenko title fights—and the hope for the next one to land at the World’s Most Famous Arena as well.
“We are still negotiating on where the location is gonna be,” Lopez (15-0, 12KOs) revealed during a Friday visit on the set of ESPN’s Coast to Coast SportsCenter of the championship clash, which is being groomed for April. “Hopefully we get everything sorted out to make that type of fight happen, especially this year. New decade, new year and I think that we start it off with a bang.
“The Garden is always my home. But I think the fight fans are gonna enjoy it no matter where it is.”
The winner will gain universal recognition as the World [lineal] lightweight king, with Lomachenko (14-1, 10KOs) already regarded as the division’s number one boxer and among the best in the world pound-for-pound. Between the two, they possess nearly all of the relevant lightweight hardware, though through vastly different means of collecting their straps.
Ukraine’s Lomachenko recovered from the first—and to date, lone—knockdown of his career to drop and stop Jorge Linares to win his first lightweight belt last May, becoming a three-division titlist in the process.
The win took place in the main room at MSG, followed by a 12-round decision over Jose Pedraza in their unification bout last December at MSG’s Hulu Theater. Lopez appeared on the undercard, capping his Prospect of the Year campaign with a one-round knockout of Mason Menard.
Similarly, Lomachenko was extended the 12-round distance in a points win over England’s Luke Campbell in their three-belt unification clash last August in London. Four months later came Lopez’s arrival on the title stage, needing barely four minutes to end Commey’s title reign after pushing through his most struggling performance to date in a 12-round win over Japan’s Masayoshi Natakani in their title eliminator last July.
“Not only do I entertain better but I think honestly, it's just the fact that I figure out the opponent—just as he would. But my thing is, I don't leave it to the judges,” notes Lopez. “I don't try to look pretty while doing it. I go out there and I take out my opponent.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox