WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s potential title defense against #4 Subriel Matias on March 15th could be shown on regular ESPN, not PPV. This is good news for fans, who would otherwise be reluctant to dig deep to pay to see this fight.
Lance Pugmire of Boxingscene reports that Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is not excited about putting this fight on PPV due to the ongoing piracy problem. This reduces the profit for the promoters, making some of the events less worth putting behind a paywall.
Lopez vs. Matias: No PPV
Compounding the problem is that Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) and former IBF light welterweight champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) are not PPV fighters. Unfortunately, this is not a pay-per-view worthy fight. Matias is not a household name in the US, and Teofimo has been inconsistent in his fights over the past four years.
For Teofimo to be in a PPV fight, he needs someone popular, like one of these fighters:
– Ryan Garcia
– Devin Haney
– Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Terence Crawford
– Jaron Ennis
Neither of those guys have shown any interest in fighting Teo, which is understandable since he’s no match. He has also had a string of controversial victories in the last five years which makes him risky in the fight. The last thing those guys need is to be on the receiving end of a hometown decision against Lopez.
You just don’t know what you’re going to get with Teo. He looks good and then looks terrible against the opposition, which is designed for display purposes. His behavior outside the ring is strange because he says strange things during interviews.
Teofimo needs a good PR coach to give him talking points for his interviews and control his tendency to be a motormouth, which sounds like he’s coming out of left field.
Teo’s lack of appeal
Although Teofimo, 27, is a two-division world champion, he has failed to become a major attraction due to his loss to George Kambosos, controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin, and lack of fights against big-name opposition.
Lopez has only fought one popular fighter in his nine-year career, Vasily Lomachenko, who he last fought five years ago in 2020.
Matchroom-promoted Matias, 32, lost his IBF 140-lb title to Liam Paro, losing a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 last year in Manati, Puerto Rico. Matias did not fare well in that defeat, getting boxed out and battered by Paro. In Matias’ last fight, he stopped Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9.
Lopez’s last five contests
– Steve Claggett: UD 12
– Jamaine Ortiz: UD 12 (*controversial)
– Josh Taylor: UD 12
– Sandor Martin: SD 10 (*controversial)
– Pedro Campa: TKO 7
Teofimo should move up to welterweight and go after one of the world champions, such as Brian Norman or Eimantas Stanionis. IBF champion Jaron Ennis is reportedly not interested in fighting Lopez, but he may change his mind if he gets his hands on a belt. Ennis is belt hungry.
If you are in the highest ranking, you must be scratching your head and wondering how to turn Lopez into an intern. He has gone downhill since his one big career win against Lomachenko.
