WBO jr lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko says he’s going to “squash” WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who moving up two weight divisions to challenge him. The two two-time Olympic gold medalists collide December 9 on ESPN at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, NYC.

[On whether Rigondeaux will come at him] No, I don’t think he’s going to be doing that. He has never done that in his whole career. When he goes forward he falls down in the ring. I don’t think he’s going to be doing that.

[His prediction clarification] I said I am going to walk through him like a tank. ‘I am going to walk through him like a tank’ and ‘I’m going to knock him out’ are two different things. They are two different impressions. I am like every single fighter – going into the ring I have in my mind ‘finish the bout before all the rounds are over and to get the victory before that.’ There is a good possibility that the fight will end before the twelfth round. I am not promising to knock him out but I am promising to squash him.