LONDON (4 August) – Pound-for-pound star Vasyl Lomachenko insists he only wants to face the biggest names in order to cement his place in boxing history.
The reigning WBO super-featherweight world champion takes on Colombian big-hitter Miguel Marriaga this Saturday night from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, exclusively live on BoxNation.
He will be looking to impress against the experienced Marriaga, who has never been stopped in 27 fights, before eventually turning his attention to any elite fighters in the 130-pound division, as he looks to leave his mark in the sport.
“The biggest thing for me is I want to fight top, top fighters in the weight class that I am now fighting in. That is my biggest goal. Then maybe it is different weight classes,” said Lomachenko.
“I want to be in the history books of boxing – I want my name to be mentioned when people talk about the history of boxing. “Most important for me is to fight the best – where the fight means something – fans want it – people want to see it. I want to be on top of the list,” he said.
Following his unanimous points win over Adrien Broner last weekend, undefeated and three-weight world champion Mikey Garcia has been touted as a potential blockbuster opponent but the Ukrainian was left unimpressed at what he saw.
“His trainer Robert Garcia mentioned that Mikey is an A-Class fighter. I hadn’t seen anything during that bout that showed me he was an outstanding fighter.
“Yes, he won the fight. Yes, he did everything he needed to win the fight, but I haven’t seen anything outstanding and I haven’t seen him being an A-Class fighter,” said Lomachenko.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was hoping to rematch Orlando Salido, a split decision loss in only his second fight as a professional when he challenged for the WBO featherweight title, before talks collapsed and Marriaga was chosen as an opponent.
30-year-old Marriaga has 21 knockouts in his 25 wins, with his only two defeats being on points to top fighters Oscar Valdez and Nicholas Walters.
Lomachenko is well aware of the threat he possesses and is not overlooking the man known as ‘The Scorpion’.
“I did see his bout against Oscar Valdez and what can I tell about him? He is strong and his conditioning is good. He has skills, so what everybody else thinks is going to be easy, I don’t think it is going to be easy for me,” he said.
The card also sees Raymundo Beltran back in action when he faces Bryan Vasquez in a lightweight contest.
Lomachenko v Marriaga is live on BoxNation this Saturday night from 2am. Buy now at boxnation.com.
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