Vasiliy Lomachenko Willing To Take Pay Cut For Title Bout Against Teofimo Lopez

Vasiliy Lomachenko is ready to sacrifice a significant portion of his paycheck just to proceed with the title bout against Teofimo Lopez.

The consideration from the Ukrainian great ensued in light of reports claiming that the lightweight championship bout at risk of being thwarted after an apparent dispute from Lopez’ camp regarding the cash offer from Top Rank Promotions emerged.

“(Lomachenko) is voluntarily under these circumstances reduced his own purse in order to get the fight done,” said Top Rank CEO and founder Bob Arum on Sirius XM’s the Ak and Barak show, per the Boxing Insider.

Lopez, the IBF titleholder, is said to have given a thumbs down on Top Rank’s $1.25 million offer to fight Lomachenko at the event headliner, which is being planned to take place on Oct. 3. Loma, meanwhile, is reported to cash in $3.5 million.

The disagreement in terms has been relatively puzzling for fight fans as both fighters are being represented by Arum’s company.

In his defense, the veteran promoter clarified that he would be inclined to pay Lopez more if only the business side of the event was not to be compromised considering the financial strain already suffered by the sport due to the pandemic.

"We explained to them we have no gate, no closed-circuit," Arum said in a previous report published by ESPN. "I mean, we're willing to pay him a big price, but again, I'm not going to lose millions of dollars on an event because he thinks he's worth more."

But while Lopez and his team understand where Arum’s arguments are coming from, they still insist that the Honduran-American fighter deserves to be paid more than what was placed on the table.

"Everybody is trying to do the right thing," said Lopez’s manager, David McWater. "But there doesn't seem to be enough money for everybody. We were willing to take a hair cut from what was expected before, but not one of the magnitude presented to us.”

Lopez boasts a flawless professional record in 15 fights that include 12 victories via a knockout. Lomachenko, who recently called for a showdown with Floyd Mayweather, has a nearly identical record, winning all but one of his 15 fights while recording 10 victories by way of stoppage.