Teofimo Lopez says he is interested in defending his WBO light welterweight title against Ryan Garcia next. Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) says he’s the “King of the 140 lb. division,” and that he offers Ryan a 55-45 split with it as the B-side. That obviously won’t go over with Ryan, as it didn’t interest Devin Haney.
Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) is not likely to accept any offer that involves Teofimo having him as the A-side. Teofimo is not popular enough to call the shots in a fight negotiation with Ryan.
Titles don’t matter
Lopez thinks his WBO means something in negotiations with Ryan, Haney and George Kambosos, which doesn’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 with a 12-round unanimous decision.
Many fans believe that Top Rank protected Teofimo with their matchmaking and that he would be nothing without them. It is thought that if he was not well connected with Top Rank, he would have been defeated in his fights with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.
Since then, Teofimo has been in free fall, with repeated poor performances and zero wins over popular fighters. Sorry, the washed up Josh Taylor doesn’t count. It 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. I’ll see if I call Oscar (De La Hoya) and see what happens. Everything has to make sense. It can’t be, “Hey, let’s just have a fight.” A wishful thinking, no,” said Teofimo Lopez to 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, defending the WBO world title and the Ring Magazine on top of that, which is linear. Yes, 55-45 seems like a reasonable split.
Teofimo is not the king of the light welterweight division, as we saw in his fights against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz. She was awarded decisions in both fights. If Teofimo means that he is the King in terms of being more popular than anyone else, he is out. Devin Haney, Ryan and Liam Paro are more popular.
The best fighters at 140 years old
Liam Paro
Devin Haney
Arnold Barboza Jr
Joseph Ramirez
Ryan Garcia
Alberto Puello
Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
Jack Catterall
Gary Antoine Russell
Jamaine Ortiz
Sandor Martin
Oscar Duarte
Subriel Mathias
Ryan is not able to fight because of his suspension, which does not end until the end of April 2025. When Ryan resumes his career, he will probably take a tune-up. So, if Teofimi thinks Ryan will immediately fight in April, he’s kidding himself.
“It’s really 5% if you think about it, because if you cut the other 5, you either go to the taxes or you go to your team. If Ryan looks. You don’t fight, bro. You’re in the same kind of situation that they are in the Fanmio as long as Golden Boy allows. I think they will, but we will see,” said Lopez.
