Lomachenko hints at fighting Inoue at 126 lbs in the near future

In his last eight fights, going back to 2018, Vasiliy Lomachenko has competed as a 135-pound fighter.

Having won three different iterations of the lightweight championship before losing them to Teofimo Lopez Jr. in 2020, the Ukrainian has achieved great success in the category.

In fights against opponents at the lightweight limit, Lomachenko has typically been the smaller fighter despite having also won world championships at 126 and 130 pounds.

When Lomachenko, 35, squares off against undefeated champion Devin Haney, 29-0, 15 KOs, on May 20 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on ESPN+ pay-per-view, he will once more be the smaller boxer.

On the tale of the tape, Lomachenko is one inch taller than Haney at 5 feet 8 inches, but when the two finally face off, a rehydrated Haney will appear much larger.

Haney has hinted at moving up to 140 pounds because it's getting harder for him to maintain 135 pounds.

When asked if he, too, would think about stepping up to 140 pounds for a chance to exact revenge for his loss to Lopez, Lomachenko (57 KG, 60 KG), a two-time Olympic gold medalist, quickly put the breaks on the idea.

“One hundred thirty-five, everybody knows, it’s not my weight class. And I can't do 140. After that, you ask me about Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, so sorry,” Lomachenko said in an interview with BoxingScene.com and other reporters.

In what appears to be a fantasy fight for now, Lomachenko was also asked if he would go back down to 126 pounds to possibly fight Top Rank stablemate Naoya Inoue, the former 118-pound undisputed champion who has yet to make his 122-pound debut.

“Maybe [I would fight Inoue]. I forgot how to make weight,” said Lomachenko. “I need to try to make 126. But of course, it's always interesting fighting top fighters near our weight classes … I've seen his fights. He has power. He's a top fighter.”