Teofimo Lopez says he is interested in defending his WBO light welterweight title against Ryan Garcia next. Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) declares that he is “King of the 140 lb division” and he would give Ryan a split 55-45 with him as the B-side. Of course, that won’t go over with Ryan, just like it didn’t interest Devin Haney.
Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) is unlikely to agree to any offer involving Teofimo that has him as the A-Team. Teofimo is not popular enough to call the shots in a fight negotiation with Ryan.
Titles don’t matter
Lopez feels that his WBO means something in negotiations with Ryan, Haney and George Kambosos, who don’t count for much. Holding a world title means nothing when negotiating with popular contenders; in this case, Ryan is much more popular than Teofimo because of his 12 million Instagram followers.
Teo’s 15 minutes of fame disappeared after his loss to George Kambosos in 2021 and two controversial wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz. You could argue that Teofimo is less popular now than he was in 2020 when he beat an injured, one-armed Vasily Lomachenko by a close 12-round unanimous decision.
Many fans believe that Top Rank protected Teofimo with their matchmakers and that he would be nowhere without them. It is thought that if he was not well connected with Top Rank, he would have received defeats in his fights with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.
Since then, Teofimo has been in freefall, with repeated poor performances and no wins over popular fighters. Sorry, washed up Josh Taylor doesn’t count. This is Teofimo’s best win since his win over the injured Vasily Lomchenko in 2020.
King complex?
Teofimo’s situation with Top Rank is murky right now, and it’s unclear if he’ll be in a position to fight anyone, least of all Ryan with the 55-45 split.
“Right now Ryan doesn’t have a fight,” Teofimo said when told that Ryan Garcia wants to fight him. I’ll see if I’ll call Oscar (De La Hoya) and see what’s going on. Everything has to make sense. It can’t be, ‘Hey, let’s just fight.’ Wishful thinking, no,” said Teofimo Lopez Little Giant Boxing about his interest in fighting Ryan Garcia.
“We have to give them something to be interested in. I try to be fair the best way I can. I think a 55-45 split, knowing that I am the King of my division at 140 lbs, the defense of the WBO World Title and the Ring Magazine on top of that, which is linear. Yes, 55-45 seems like a fair split.
Teofimo is NOT the king of the light welterweight division as we saw in his fights against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz. He was gifted with decisions in both of these fights. If Teofimo means he is the King in terms of being more popular than anyone else, he is gone. Devin Haney, Ryan and Liam Paro are more popular.
The best fighters at 140
Liam Paro
Devin Haney
Arnold Barboza Jr
Jose Ramirez
Ryan Garcia
Alberto Puello
Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
Jack Catterall
Gary Antoine Russell
Jamaine Ortiz
Sandor Martin
Oscar Duarte
Subriel Mathias
Ryan is unable to fight due to his suspension, which does not end until the end of April 2025. When Ryan does resume his career, he will likely take a tune-up. So, if Teofimi thinks that Ryan will fight him right away in April, he’s kidding himself.
“It’s really 5% when you think about it, because if you cut off the other 5, it either goes to taxes or to your team. As Ryan watches. You got no fight bro. You are in the same kind of predicament I am in the Fanmio until Golden Boy allows it. I think they will, but we’ll have to see,” says Lopez.
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