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Steve KimESPN
Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez Jr. came in at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds on Friday’s official weigh-in for their anticipated lightweight unification fight at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET).
There was palpable tension as Lomachenko and Lopez engaged in a lengthy stare-down after making weight, before being separated. Faceoffs have been rare in recent fights because of social distancing guidelines put into place for these events.
“He came out negative [for COVID-19], I came out negative, so why not be close up? That’s how everybody wants it. It’s bad blood, I’m ready,” Lopez said after the weigh-in.
Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs), the reigning IBF world titlist, believes there’s more than one way to come out victorious.
“Tune in, Oct. 17, tomorrow night and you guys will see. There’s many keys, I’m going to display them,” Lopez said. “A lot of body shots, a lot of head shots. There’s many things I can do.
“I’m going to muscle him. I’m going to play it smart at the same time because I’m able to do that.”
Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs), who has the WBA and WBO belts and is the WBC “franchise” champion, has kept an icy cold demeanor throughout the week.
“I want to do 12 rounds, I don’t want to finish this fight very fast,” Lomachenko said. “I want to do fight all 12 rounds.”