Following his thoroughly dominating performance against Guillermo Rigondeaux over the weekend, Vasyl Lomachenko took some time to talk to reporters about his thoughts on the fight during a post-fight press conference. Check out some excerpts of what Lomachenko had to say below with the full video interview above.
Lomachenko on if he knew he’d be able to handle Rigondeaux so easily:
“No, it was after the second round [I knew I had him beat]. Because the first round I think maybe he has some strategy — wait a little bit and after second round he begin to use some of his punches. But after second round, when I come back, I understand what I need to do and I understand his strategy.”
On if Rigondeaux was as good as he expected:
“He’s a good fighter. He’s a strong fighter, but it’s not his weight, it’s not his size.”
After having four straight fighters quit in the corner, does he believe he’s breaking fighters mentally or physically:
“Both.”
On what he wants to do next:
“After this fight I ask my promoter ‘what’s next?’ but he tell me ‘hey, you need to rest a little bit. Come back to your hometown and rest a little bit, after a couple of weeks [we’ll] talk about next fight.’
“I want a big fight. I want a big name, but, you know guys, I’m ready for anyone. I’m ready.”
On if he thinks this win makes him Fighter of the Year:
“No! No. [Three wins] but not three big wins. It’s not big for me because it’s not my weight, it’s not my size. It’s not big win, for me. Maybe it’s big win for people who love boxing but not for me.”
On how frustrated he got by Rigondeaux’s holding tactics:
“I prepare for this. I [knew he would hold me]. I prepare but it’s not wrestling. If he want to wrestle I can wrestle him, but it’s boxing.”
On if he agrees with his promoter Bob Arum that he could move up to 135 and easily take out champions Jorge Linares and Mikey Garcia:
“Oh, of course no, but we don’t know about this. This is top guys, this is another weight category, now it’s [bigger guys than me]. I think now if I move up 135, I’m feeling like [how Rigo felt fighting with me]. Bob [Arum] can say what he wants [to] say.”
On what fighter he thinks can last the distance with him:
“I don’t know, it’s a very hard question. In my opinion I was thinking Rigondeaux can go the whole distance, [Nicholas] Walters will go the whole distance, [Jason] Sosa will go the whole distance but it’s not up to me.”
On if he believes Rigondeaux really injured his hand to where he couldn’t continue or if that was just an excuse to save face as he got overwhelmed:
“You know, I fought with one hand in Macau. So it depends [on] you. If you want to win, if you want to fight, you need to die in the ring.”
On if it bothers him that Rigondeaux talked so much trash for so long, only to quit in the corner when they finally fought:
“Where is Rigo?!” [Lomachenko says looking around]. “We need to ask him now about his [Twitter] posts.”
On which one fighter he’d like to face the most:
“Maybe Mikey Garcia. Mikey.”
On if he would give Gary Russell Jr. a rematch:
“Yeah but, you know, it’s hard because two different promoters. I think too hard. You need to ask Gary ‘hey, do you want this fight?’ I think he [just says he wants to fight on camera] but not in his head.”