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Luke Campbell believes Vasiliy Lomachenko was not the same fighter after their twelve round battle in August of 2019.
Campbell lost a competitive twelve round decision, in a bout for the vacant WBC title in London. The WBA, WBO titles were also at stake.
Lomachenko returned last month, and lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in a WBC Franchise, WBO, IBF, WBA lightweight title fight.
Campbell was scheduled to return next month against Ryan Garcia for the WBC interim-title.
Their bout was pushed back after Campbell tested positive for COVID-19. The fight may now happen in late December or in January.
Campbell was pleased with what he accomplished against Lopez and believes his performance gave Lopez an assist to pull off the big upset.
“Firstly, I was happy for Lopez and his team,” Campbell told Sky Sports. “I’m glad he got the win.
“I said to everybody after the Lomachenko fight, that Lomachenko won’t be the same. I said I put a big dent in Lomachenko that night – and he’s not going to be the same. He didn’t throw a punch for seven rounds, so Lopez could do what he wanted for seven rounds. I wish that Loma would have turned up for my fight.
“He was moving around and throwing feints, but he wasn’t throwing anything, and Lopez had the range to do what he wanted, but like I say, hats off to Lopez he did a great job staying focused in there and switched on, and getting the win. I think [Lopez] is a great guy, him and his Dad. We’ve shared rounds together, got mutual respect for each other, so I was happy he go it. Got to take care of business first and then I can move on to these guys.”