Promoter Bob Arum is frustrated with what he can do for Teofimo Lopez after his latest rejection of a fight against Subriel Matias. The Top Rank boss points out that he offered fights to WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs), and nothing happened.
Teofimo’s decline
Lopez lacks self-awareness and does not realize his stock bottomed out since his loss to George Kambosos. He is unable to call the shots and get the fights he wants. Moreover, Teo turns down the offers to help him rebuild his brand.
Fans don’t think much of Teofimo anymore, and the newer ones have no idea who he is. His recent performance against a social Steve Claggett was something awful, which shows the level at which he operates.
Arum isn’t saying who he’ll offer Lopez next, but if he’s lucky, he might get a chance to fight Ryan Garcia if he whips Devin Haney in their rematch this year. Garcia will likely win that fight easily, and he’ll need Teofimo next if he doesn’t price himself out with a crazy question. Lopez needs to understand that he is not the A-Team for fights against Haney and Ryan. They are probably bigger names than him.
It wouldn’t have been if Teofimo hadn’t made a mess of his career since 2021, looking terrible in almost every fight since his close win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. Something changed with Teo after that fight, and some believe that the punishment he took in that grueling match ruined him. He now looks clueless in the ring, and he talks nonsense during interviews.
It turns out it will end badly between Arum and Teofimfo, as the Brooklyn, New York native ruins his career by turning down fights. Teo is now like a fast growing cancer; there is probably no way to cut it out.
So far, Lopez has shown no ability to beat top opposition. He struggled against contenders, against George Kambosos Jr. losing and getting two controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. Many fans feel Teofimo lost both fights, meaning his true record should be 19-3, not 21-1.
Arum’s frustration
Although Arum hasn’t given up on the once-promising 27-year-old Lopez, he sounds hopeless. Teofimo has underperformed in five of his last six fights since 2021, and he still believes he is an elite-level fighter. He wasted no time calling out fighters above his class, such as Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford.
It might be better for Arum to wash his hands of Teofimo and say: “Good riddance.” He is NOT going to turn his career around to be the fighter many fans thought he would be when things went well for him from 2018 to 2020. Again, the Lomachenko is where things changed. Teofimo is not the same fighter.
Some of that could be because he no longer fights at 135, and he doesn’t have the size advantage he often enjoyed when competing against smaller fighters at lightweight. If you compare Teofimo’s size to Lomachenko’s on the night of the fight, it’s pretty clear that he was competing out of his weight class.
Since moving up to 140, Lopez has looked average and should have lost twice to Jamaine and Sandor. You can only imagine what talents like Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, Alberto Puerllo, Ryan and Haney would have done to Teofimo if they fought him now.
Bob Arum on Teofimo Lopez: “The question is what won’t he turn down? Where is his head? Who does he want to fight? We gave him a whole group of fighters. And it’s not like he’s giving good performances. He looked terrible with (Jamaine) Ortiz and people thought he lost it… pic.twitter.com/P2JM1gG9iZ
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 14, 2025
