Vasiliy Lomachenko has explained why he urged Richard Commey’s corner to stop the fight after he floored the Ghanaian during a dominant points win in New York.
The Ukrainian star dropped Commey heavily in the seventh round and then gestured for Commey’s training team to intervene during the fight at Madison Square Garden.
But Commey was allowed to continue as Lomachenko sealed a unanimous decision victory that keeps him in contention for another world title fight.
“I saw his situation,” admitted Lomachenko. “It was very hard for him. That’s why I said, ‘Hey, stop the fight’.
“But he’s a true warrior, he has heart, and we continued and we showed 12 great rounds.”
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Commey’s trainer Andre Rozier insisted the former IBF champion had justified his decision not to halt the bout.
“Richard is a warrior and Vasiliy is a great champion,” said Rozier.
“When he signalled to stop it, for me to take his [Commey] pride and his energy and his diligence away, it would have been a horrible thing to do.
“I told Richard to get up and let’s get it together. Try not to make any mistakes and keep working. As you see, he did go the entire 12 rounds of this fight and he fought his heart out.”
Lomachenko is now expected to become mandatory challenger for new unified champion George Kambosos Jnr, who took the WBA, IBF and WBO belts from Teofimo Lopez with an upset win last month.
The three world titles had previously been in the possession of Lomachenko before he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Lopez.
“In this weight division, we have a lot of great fighters,” said Lomachenko.
“We have a lot of top fighters, so we can organise a lot of great fights.
“Yes of course, I need this chance [to become undisputed champion]. If god gives me this chance, I take it.”
Asked if he would travel to Australia for the Kambosos fight, Lomachenko said: “I will go anywhere I need to go to fight him [Kambosos].
“I’ve said my goal. Undisputed lightweight world champion. I stay at 135[lbs] and I need four belts.”