Teofimo Lopez reportedly rejected the ultimate supply from his promoters at High Rank to defend his title in opposition to Subriel Matias on March fifteenth on ESPN PPV in Las Vegas.
In response to Keith Idec, High Rank’s supply to WBO mild welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) for the match in opposition to former IBF 140-lb belt-holder Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) was above his “contract minimal.” Teo stays intractable, his personal worst enemy, as his profession nosedives to the underside.
It’s unclear what sort of cash Lopez, 27, anticipated for the Matias struggle, however no matter it was, High Rank wasn’t providing it. That may have been a dangerous one for Teo as a result of he’s not carried out effectively during the last 4 years. Teo has sounded and regarded like a whole basket case since 2021.
The Brooklyn, New York native Lopez has ALWAYS struggled in opposition to strain fighters all through his nine-year professional profession, and he may need fallen aside in opposition to the heavy-handed Matias.
Subriel’s energy would have been pure 100% hell for Teofimo, and he may need mentally crumbled as he did in his 12-round cut up determination loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021.
Lopez’s Calls for Too Excessive?
“Teofimo Lopez turned down High Rank’s closing supply, “means above his contract minimal,” based on what I used to be advised, earlier than a deadline late final evening for a WBO 140-pound title struggle vs. Subriel Matias. Lopez & Matias would’ve fought in an ESPN PPV essential occasion March fifteenth in Las Vegas,” stated Keith Idec on X.
High Rank needed to have been troubled by Lopez’s current struggle in opposition to journeyman Steve Claggett (39-8-2, 22 KOs) final yr on June twenty ninth. Teofimo absorbed plenty of punishment from Claggett, winding up with a badly swollen face within the technique of profitable a tougher-than-expected 12-round unanimous determination.
It’s believed that High Rank had fed Teo the Claggett opponent as a confidence booster after his controversial win over Jamaine Ortiz in his earlier struggle on February eighth final yr.
Many boxing followers consider that the judges gave Teofimo a present determination in that struggle, and so they felt that Jamaine was robbed. I watched the struggle and had Ortiz profitable 9-3, and it wasn’t even remotely shut. He dominated Lopez much more so than Kambosos had.
Some consider that Teofimo’s excessive level of his profession, a slender 12-round majority determination over Vasily Lomachenko in November 2020, ruined him as a fighter, leaving him a struggling fighter, incapable of combating on the ranges he’d proven earlier. Lomachenko did one thing to Teo, and he’s been mediocre ever since. What did Loma do to him in that struggle to show him into what he’s grow to be?
