Highlights
- Teofimo Lopez is known for his entertaining and flashy personality, often incorporating celebratory dances into his victories.
- Lopez's boxing journey started at a young age, and although he faced setbacks, he persevered and eventually signed with a prominent promoter.
- Despite recent controversies and concerns surrounding his behavior and comments, Lopez remains financially comfortable and determined to put on a captivating performance in his upcoming championship title defense.
NAME | Teofimo Lopez Jr. |
AKA | The Takeover |
RECORD | 19-1, 13 KO |
WEIGHT CLASS | super lightweight |
HEIGHT | 5'8" |
REACH | 68.5" |
NOTABLE WINS | Richard Commey, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Josh Taylor |
NOTABLE LOSSES | George Kambosos Jr. |
This may come as a shock, but in the sport of boxing, there's been a few big talkers. But as "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali once said, "It's not bragging if you can back it up." It's a philosophy that light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez most likely subscribes to, as he is more apt to break out a wisecrack or a backflip than he is any sort of filter.
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Amateur Decorations and Passport Verifications
An American Fights for Honduras in Brazil
Lopez's boxing journey launched when his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., introduced him to the sport at age six, and by thirteen he had already begun sparring with professionals. May 2015 saw Lopez claiming victory in the 132-pound division at the National Golden Gloves Tournament, and later that year in December he would do the same thing at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Technically the victory would earn him a spot on the U.S. Olympic Boxing team, but in an exception to the standard, the International Boxing Association would pass over Lopez in favor of Carlos Balderas for the slot on the team. But the Brooklyn native would not have his chance to perform on a world stage be denied; instead he would turn to the homeland of his parents, joining the Honduras boxing team. His run would be cut short however, losing to Sofiane Oumiha of France in the opening lightweight bout.
As the saying goes, however, "when one door closes, another door opens," and shortly after the Rio Olympics in 2016, he was courted by boxing mega-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank fame. The promoter would soon sign Lopez, then just 19 years old, and he would debut under the banner in November of 2016, making short work of 3-1-1 Ishwar Siqueiros.
Teofimo Lopez Gaining Experience And Attention
Give 'Em The Ol' Razzle-Dazzle
As most future champions do after they turn pro, Lopez was fed a steady stream of low-end competition - his next six opponents after Siqueiros would have a combined win average of only 59% - and he defeated them all decisively.
Standard operating procedure for one of the chosen ones of any promoter. What wasn't standard was what happened after the victory was announced. Lopez indeed became known as a bit of a showboat, performing wild victory celebrations which included everything from backflips to Fortnite emotes, as witnessed after his May 2018 first-round knockout of Vitor Jones Freitas.
Lopez has always stood by the statement that his victory dances are just meant to be a little fun and not offensive, but in some cases, including his domination of former lightweight world champion Diego Magdaleno in February of 2019, those watching have questioned if the celebration was overkill.
The dances were a part of him, however, and soon the quality of opponent would catch up to the level of celebration, Just before the Magdaleno victory, Lopez would make quick work of Mason Menard to pick up the USBA and NABF lightweight belts via first-round knockout, and would be victorious twice more in a busy 2019 before going for world belts in December of that year.
To close the year, Lopez squared up against Richard Commey in December in Lopez's home stomping grounds at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lopez took care of all the "business" side of things quickly, needing only two rounds to stop Commey and pick up his IBF world lightweight title.
The Big Top: Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr.
Mountains High And Rivers Low
With the IBF belt as his bargaining chip, Lopez looked to pick up more trinkets. Collecting the same belts was lightweight champion Vasiliy "Loma" Lomachenko. It was the proven veteran versus the brash upstart, and many, if not most, thought that "The Takeover" would be taken aback by the Ukranian.
In one of the first attention-commanding bouts since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lopez would combine an active jab with an unusually slow start from Lomachenko to effectively control the first half of the fight. Lomachenko would find his stride in the back half, but Lopez was still able to continue working the jab and keeping his head in the fight.
The work put in by Lopez would see him through to the final bell, a feat that less than half of his previous opponents had accomplished before. Although ringside judge Julie Lederman's lopsided card was almost offensively off, all three judges recognized Lopez as having controlled the fight throughout all twelve rounds, earning Lopez the unanimous decision, with judges' scorecards reading 119-109, 117-111, and 116-112.
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Kambosos promptly introduced himself by knocking Lopez down in the first round. Kambosos would tell ESPN, "I put him on his ass... From that, I totally changed the fight straight away. He was hesitant... We boxed very smart, and you know what I showed? My boxing skills... I showed what a true champion is, to come back and win the fight and close it in great fashion," referencing his own survival of a tenth-round knockdown to win him the split decision on the judges' cards 115-112, 115-111, 113-114.
Teofimo Lopez's Controversies During His Career
How Lopez's Words Caught Attention, Caught Flack, and Caused Concern
"I don't care what anybody says, I won that fight," the now-former champion Lopez would protest after the loss to George Kambosos Jr. "At the end of the day, I've been here, I've done it. Look, I'm no sore loser; I take my wins like I take my losses. At the end of the day, I'm a true champion. I came out here, I did what I had to do and I went out there and I did my best."
Though the split decision was close and an argument could be made, it was not necessarily the protestations that would cause some blowback, but how Lopez has come across. Lopez's comments began to slide from comical to controversial, and they began prompting concerns throughout the boxing world.
Following the loss, Lopez began implying that streaming network DAZN, who broadcast the fight, had paid off the ringside judges and insisted he would now only fight on ESPN. Then he would turn around and spout inflammatory remarks about ESPN, naming former champions-turned-commentators Andre Ward and Tim Bradley Jr. of racial bias in favor of Black fighters. Meanwhile, news of Lopez's imploding marriage became public, with reports that his wife was seeking half of his earnings and preventing the former champion from seeing his young son.
Leading up to his most recent fight against then-WBO super lightweight champion Josh Taylor, Lopez's soundness of mental health was scrutinized when he commented that not only would he be okay if he died in the ring, but he thought that the best part of boxing was he "could kill a guy and get away with it." When pressed by FightHubTV, Lopez stood by his words:
This is what I mean, boxing is soft. ... I was going to pass away against Kambosos because of the injuries I had in the fight, literally. I thank God I am still here. But if I had gone, they would do the 10-bell count and people would miss me for a little bit and then be forgotten. I'm not apologizing for my comments, no. If [Taylor] dies, he dies. People have died in the sport, this is what comes with it. It's part of the sport.
I'm not someone that apologizes. I know people want to [punish] me for those words but what the f**k are you going to punish me for? Because I'm speaking a truth that people die when they go in the ring and fight? Sorry if [my words] are too strong. Sorry that you are too sensitive to understand the truth of what we do this for. If you don't like it, don't sign up for boxing. If you don't like it, don't watch boxing. Go watch MMA, those guys die less.
An incensed Taylor took Lopez the full twelve, but Lopez would pick up the close unanimous decision in New York. Lopez would finally capitulate and apologized for getting caught up in his emotions. However, aside from apologizing for directly threatening Taylor, Lopez continued to refuse to apologize.
For what it's worth, by all accounts Teofimo Lopez is still sitting pretty. With estimates in the range of a $3.75 million net worth, Lopez is financially comfortable; in recent interviews he has mentioned saying "f**k you" to a $1.75 million offer to fight "King" Ryan Garcia, who currently is still shopping for an opponent, as well as turning down a six-figure offer from risque-content platform OnlyFans.
However, his erratic behavior, once falling under the banner of "showmanship," now comes with a side of concern, and threatens something just as valuable of a currency as money in the days of social media: relevancy. Call it clout, buzz, or yes, even "rizz," it's clear that Lopez values it, possibly even needs it.
Now, as his championship title defense on February 8 against Jamaine Ortiz draws near, Teofimo Lopez once again promises to put on a show. However, it is yet to be seen if the show will be a cavalcade of talent, or simply a train wreck the boxing world can't seem to look away from.
