Teofimo Lopez has dismissed recent claims from Vasiliy Lomachenko over their meeting last year.
The 23-year-old American shocked the world of boxing when he beat the Ukrainian and became the unified - and in the eyes of many, the undisputed - lightweight champion of the world.
Lomachenko lost by unanimous decision, and there was no rematch clause for either fighter, meaning he has no obvious way back to a second fight.
Speaking ahead of his IBF title defence fight with George Kambosos Jr on June 19, Lopez gave his former rival short shrift.
“Loma, he finally took an actual loss, for the first time in his whole career, from amateur to pro,” Lopez said.
“So, he don’t know how to take a loss. You know, my whole thing is like the fact that, you know, seeing the way he is and the way he’s trying to move and all that, he’s just someone that is a sore loser.
“That’s all it is. I beat him clearly. And when I said, ‘Come on,’ and I said, ‘Step up to the plate,’ he backed down. So, that goes to show, man. And if we were to fight again, he’ll get knocked out and he knows it. I took his heart.”
Lomachenko will return to the ring on June 26 to face Japanese fighter Masayoshi Nakatani in Las Vegas. Lopez has already fought and beaten Nakatani in July 2019.