FILE – Vasiliy Lomachenko celebrates his Junior Lightweight bout victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2017 in New York City. Steven Ryan/Getty Images/AFP
The only way for a showdown between Vasyl Lomachenko and Manny Pacquiao to possibly happen is if the Filipino boxing superstar would be willing to go two weight classes down.
Egis Klimas, manager of the Ukrainian champion, is adamant that Lomachenko, the current WBA lightweight champion, will not fight higher than 135 pounds.
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“We have no interest [in moving up],” Klimas told Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports. “If Pacquiao can make 135, to come in and compete for [Lomachenko’s] WBA title, Vasyl is the champion in that weight class, it’s a possibility.”
Klimas cleared fighting at a catch weight is also out of the equation.
“If we are talking 137 [pounds] and 136, no, there will be no catch weight. If he wants to challenge, he needs to come down. We are not looking to go to 140 pounds. If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight Lomachenko, he can make 135 pounds.”
Pacquiao agreeing to Lomachenko’s terms is a long shot. He hasn’t fought at lightweight since destroying David Diaz in 2008.
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But even if Pacquiao concurs, the venue is another discussion.
Pacquiao, the newly-minted WBA welterweight titleholder, had been expressing his interest in facing Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs), who is considered among the top pound-for-pound fighters today.
Lomachenko, 30, stopped Jorge Linares in the 10th round last May in New York while Pacquiao proved he still has a lot left in his tank following a seventh-round stoppage of Lucas Matthysse on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.