Promoter Bob Arum is frustrated about what he can do for Teofimo Lopez after his latest rejection of a fight against Subriel Matias. The head of Top Rank indicates that he offered fights to the WBO welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KO), and nothing happened.
The decline of Teofimo
Lopez lacks self-awareness and doesn’t understand his stock bottomed out since his loss to George Cambosos. He’s not able to call the shots and get the fights he wants. Also, Teo turns down offers to help rebuild his brand.
The fans don’t think much of Teofimo anymore, and the newer ones have no idea who he is. His recent performance against the young Steve Claggett it was something terrible, which shows that it is the level at which it 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 beats Devin Haney in their rematch this year. Garcia will probably win that fight easily, and he’ll need Teofimo later if he doesn’t put the price with a strange request. Lopez must realize that he is not the A side for the fights against Haney and Ryan. They are undoubtedly bigger names than him.
It wouldn’t have been like that if Teofimo hadn’t made a mess of his career since 2021, looking horrible in almost every fight since his narrow victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. Something changed with Teo after that fight, and some believe that the punishment he took in that grueling match destroyed him. Now he looks clueless in the ring, and talks stupid during interviews.
It seems it will end badly between Arum and Teofimfo, as the native of Brooklyn, New York is ruining his career by ending the fights. Teo is like a fast-growing cancer; there is probably no way to cut it.
So far, Lopez has shown no ability to beat top opposition. He fought against contenders, losing to George Kambosos Jr. and being awarded two controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. Many fans feel that Teofimo lost both fights, which means 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, it seems hopeless. Teofimo has not done well in five of his last six fights since 2021, and he still believes he is an elite 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 that many fans thought he would be when things were going well for him from 2018 to 2020. Again, Lomachenko is where things changed. Teofimo is not the same fighter.
Some of that could be because he no longer fights at 135, and doesn’t have the size advantage he regularly enjoyed when competing against smaller fighters at lightweight. If you compare Teofimo’s size to Lomachenko’s on fight night, it’s pretty clear that he was competing outside of his weight class.
Since moving up to 140, Lopez looks average and should have lost twice against 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 had beaten him now.
Bob Arum on Teofimo Lopez: “The question is that he will not refuse? Where is his head? Who wants to fight? We have given a whole group of fighters. And it is not like he is coming from great performances. He looked terrible with (Jamaine) Ortiz and people thought he lost that… pic.twitter.com/P2JM1gG9iZ
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 14, 2025
