“Do you know what he said to me at the end of the fight?” Teofimo Sr. said Punch Dunk Boxing channel. “He said, ‘Dad, I felt like a little kid.’
Teofimo Sr. then hinted that something outside the ring may have affected his son mentally before the fight.
“I said, ‘Man, I know, brother. I know what happened. I don’t know what happened to you, but I don’t know if someone threatened your ass or what happened in that fight,'” Teofimo Sr. said. said. “He doesn’t want to tell me, but it wasn’t my son in that fight.”
Teofimo Sr. insisted the strategy going into the fight was for Lopez to stay disciplined and box Stevenson from the outside rather than striking from close range.
“The whole plan was to box this kid out, stay on the outside and box him out,” Teofimo Sr. said. said. “Then from the start he just went in and punished.”
The longtime coach compared the performance to Teofimo’s sharper outburst against Arnold Barboza Jr. and argued that the difference between the two battles was clear.
“It was not my son in that fight,” Teofimo Sr. said. repeat. “Everyone knows my son is a smooth fighter.”
Teofimo himself also appeared frustrated as he discussed the criticism surrounding the loss and defended his willingness to fight dangerous battles.
“I already want to come back,” Lopez said. “Canelo just dodged David. But I’m going to fight David, they’re like, ‘Well, he hit.’ What do you think would have happened to Canelo?”
Teofimo also claimed he would still favor himself against many of the top names in the divisions.
“I could beat every single person that Canelo beat. I could beat every single person that Triple G beat. I could beat every single person that Caleb Plant beat,” Lopez said.
The comments quickly generated reactions from fans online, especially Teofimo Sr. ‘s suggestion that something might have influenced his son mentally on the way to the Stevenson fight.
