Walters: He's The Same Lomachenko as The One That Lost To Salido
By Keith Idec
Nicholas Walters heard promoter Bob Arum compare Vasyl Lomachenko’s skill level to that of a young Muhammad Ali during a conference call Monday.
Jamaica’s Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) also has studied all the footage from Lomachenko’s impressive but brief professional boxing career. The former two-division champion still doesn’t believe the hype that accompanies Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) as they approach a highly anticipated, 130-pound showdown Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas (HBO).
“His achievements are good for him … but even Muhammad Ali at his best, he lost fights, also,” Walters said. “So, you know, Lomanchenko, I don’t think he’s a different guy from the Lomachenko that lost to Salido. He’s the same Lomachenko. I don’t think that they went and traded [for] a different Lomachenko. They say a leopard cannot change his spots, right?
“So if he lost to [Orlando] Salido, that means that he’s not undefeated. He can be technical all he wants, but I’m in the hurt business. I’m in the gladiator sport, right? I’m a descendent of the gladiator. And I fight all my fights like that. And I express myself through my fights in the way that I think as a gladiator. So come this Saturday, with his technical fights and whatever, I’m gonna be up for it and I’m definitely gonna put on a hell of a show this Saturday night.”
Ukraine’s Lomachenko has won five straight fights since Mexico’s Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs, 1 NC) defeated him by split decision in the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s second pro bout 2½ years ago. A majority decision win against previously unbeaten former American Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs) started that winning streak in June 2014.
“Each fight is different,” Walters said. “I’m not gonna say I’m gonna fight the same fight as Salido. No. Each fight is different. Of course, only a fool doesn’t learn from his mistakes or doesn’t learn during a period of time. He’s training. He’s working out, so I know that he’s a more complete fighter than [he was in] his first fight. But just so the people know because we all talk about Lomachenko like he’s undefeated – I’m the undefeated [fighter]. So I’m not even worried.
“I’m saying that of course he has learned and he’s a better fighter from that loss. But he still has a loss. There’s still a blemish on his record, that he lost. You know? With that in mind, he has tasted the sour defeat and I’ve never tasted a sour defeat. So we stayed undefeated, and we’re gonna keep it that way this Saturday.”
HBO will televise the Lomachenko-Walters fight live after a replay of the controversial Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight title fight. The replay of Ward-Kovalev, which Ward narrowly won by unanimous decision (114-113 on all three scorecards) is scheduled to begin at 10:35 p.m. ET.
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