Vasyl Lomachenko's Win Over Guillermo Rigondeaux 'Bored' Jorge Linares

World Boxing Association lightweight champion Jorge Linares is not impressed by Vasyl Lomachenko's performances, claiming his last win over Guillermo Rigondeaux “bored” him.

Lomachenko, regarded by many as the pound-for-pound king in boxing above the likes of Terence Crawford and Gennady Golovkin, last fought in December when he defended his World Boxing Organization junior lightweight title against Guillermo Rigondeaux in Madison Square Garden, New York.

With Rigondeaux (17-1-1) also being a top pound-for-pound fighter in a rare contest between two two-time Olympic gold winning boxing champions, it was Lomachenko (10-1) who inflicted the Cuban's first-ever defeat after his opponent quit in the sixth round citing a hand injury.

Despite Rigondeaux moving up eight pounds and two weight classes, it was the manner of the performance that really won the Ukrainian plaudits as he was never really troubled and was toying with his opponent at times.

"Hi Tech" will now be moving up as he seeks a title in a third division when he takes on Linares (44-3) as a betting favorite May 12 in New York. While he praised Lomachenko's excellent amateur career — with an outstanding 396-1 record — Linares believes he has been protected for much of his professional career, citing how he lost his only fight, albeit very controversially, when he finally faced a good opponent in Orlando Salido.

The Venezuelan also did not share the same enthusiasm for Lomachenko's win over Rigondeaux as many others in the boxing world did.

"I know he's good, the best pound-for-pound and that's enough to be motivated," Linares told ESPN Deportes, as per BoxingScene. "It's a dream come true to fight on May 12 with Lomachenko, and if one (Orlando Salido) fighter beat him, why can't someone beat him again."

"Vasyl had an excellent amateur career, but when he was given a good and experienced opponent - he lost. And with the others he has been in with recently, it's not a big deal. And the last fight with (Guillermo) Rigondeaux he looked really bad.. I'm telling you that I have always admired Lomachenko and I stopped watching the fight because he bored me."

"Lomachenko has been protected as a professional, we have to see what he has because now he is facing a very experienced boxer in the best moment of his career. We will see what he brings. It's going to be interesting, we're pretty technical fighters, it's a good fight. I'm right and he's left-handed. We will see how good he is going to be and then take advantage of the fact that I am bigger. We will see how he comes out, if he goes out to box or to attack, because he is going to face a fighter who is two times bigger than him."

Linares last defeated Mercito Gesta via unanimous decision in January and a win over Lomachenko would make it 14 straight wins for him after last suffering defeat against Sergio Thompson in March 2012.