Vasyl Lomachenko laughs out loud, a hearty, robust laugh that forces everyone around him to laugh along with him. His manager, Egis Klimas, is with him to translate, but Lomachenko, a Ukranian who came to the U.S. to seek professional boxing glory, is studying English and clearly doesn?t need Klimas to translate the question.
He was asked why he bothered to take up English; his breathtaking boxing skills alone were enough to make him a star.
He was a reported 396-1 as an amateur and won two Olympic gold medals, and two golds and a silver in the amateur world championships.
He?s 7-1 as a pro ? more about that loss later ? and already a world champion. Many are already calling him the best fighter in the world, though Lomachenko rejects the notion that he?s No. 1.
Until last month, most pundits had either super flyweight Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez or middleweight Gennady Golovkin as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. They entered a March 18 pay-per-view card at Madison Square Garden in New York a combined 82-0 with 71 knockouts.
Gonzalez, though, lost to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Golovkin squeaked out a harder-than-expected victory over Daniel Jacobs.
To some, it was time for a passing of the torch. But it wasn?t for Lomachenko.
?I don?t think about that and I don?t even want to talk about it,? Lomachenko said as he prepares for a Saturday title defense of his WBO junior lightweight belt at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on HBO against Jason Sosa.
?I don?t want to be ranked in a better position because someone else failed.?
He says this almost angrily, sneering. He?s been light and cheerful, laughing easily throughout most of the interview, speaking almost flawless English.
This, though, offends him. When you?ve won 404 of 406 fights you?ve taken, you get used to taking care of business yourself. You don?t need anyone else?s help.
Lomachenko, who is and always has been trained by his father, Anatoly, knows full well he?s not far away from the top. But he is adamant he doesn?t want anything given to him.
?If people say I?m the best, I want it to be because of my skills and what I do, not because of what happened with anyone else,? he said.
Amateur and pro, he?s winning 99.507389 percent of his bouts, or about as close to 100 percent as one can get. Floyd Mayweather was 49-0 as a professional and is regarded as the greatest of this generation, but not even he won that high of a percentage of his bouts when factoring in both amateur and pro.
Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler has one of the shrewdest eyes for talent in the business, and is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame largely for that ability and his uncanny ability to fully develop boxers.
He most certainly is not one prone to hyperbole, and he tends to favor boxers from eras gone by over those from the modern group.
Ask him about a welterweight and he?ll say, ?Can you really see that guy beating Tommy Hearns? Can you??
He has no compunctions about praising Lomachenko, though.
?He could hang in any era,? he said of Lomachenko, high praise coming from a guy who often scoffs at the notion that today?s boxers match up favorably with those from the past.
Lomachenko is so gifted that he fought a 10-rounder in his pro debut, and Top Rank was trying as hard as it could to get him a title shot in that bout. He had to wait for his second fight to get it, and met Orlando Salido for the WBO featherweight title. View photos
Salido is the polar opposite of Lomachenko, who can often be seen walking around his gym on his hands and frequently does all sorts of flips. Lomachenko is as athletic as they come, but Salido is one of those boxing lifers who has made himself a success purely on his heart and determination.
You?ve heard of fighters willing to take two to land one; Salido is willing to take 10 to land one. He?s perpetual action, and probably wings punches in his sleep.
