Egis Klimas, the manager of WBO super featherweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, denied the information put out in the press by Manny Pacquiao (59-7-1, 38 KOs) - that he was negotiating a potential catch-weight fight with the Ukrainian two-time Olympic gold medal winner.
During a televised interview in the Philippines, Pacquiao said he was negotiating for a Lomachenko fight and trying to work out the issue of weight.
"There are negotiations now about the No. 1 pound-for-pound, which is Lomachenko," Pacquiao said to ABS-CBN. "There are still talks on the weight, reducing the weight."
The weight difference at the moment is huge - with Lomachenko fighting at 130-pounds and Pacquiao competing three divisions up at 147.
There was talk at one point of doing this fight, by their mutual promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, but the two sides not even close to agreeing on a weight - as Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) was not willing to go above 135 and Pacquiao had no intention of dropping below 140.
According to Klimas, they are not in talks to fight Pacquiao and they see very little gain in beating the 39-year-old, eight division world champion.
"No, we are not fighting Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is calling out Lomachenko, who is three weight classes down the scale from him. Manny Pacquiao is 147 pounds and he's calling out Lomachenko, who is 130 pounds. That's insane," Klimas told ESPN.
"He's an old man and Lomachenko beating him takes him nowhere. If the fight happened they'll all say Lomachenko beat an old man and made him come down [in weight]. Even if he beat Pacquiao, they'd say he beat an old guy who was basically retired. We want to fight active champions dominating their weight classes."
Klimas then checked Pacquiao's intentions - wondering why Pacquiao is not calling out boxers who are closer to his weight division.
"Look, we have our own agenda, our own road and our own plans. That's where we're going," Klimas said. "There's a lot of champions and good guys at 130 or 135 pounds. That's where we're going. Why isn't Pacquiao calling out [Terence] Crawford? Crawford is moving into Pacquiao's weight class. Why doesn't he call out [Mikey] Garcia, who is at 140?"