Jose Carlos Ramirez has his eyes set on Teofimo Lopez!
There is no question that unified lightweight champion Teofimo “Take Over” Lopez’s (16-0, 12 KO’s) days are numbered at lightweight. Let him tell it, he has long outgrown the division and wants to move up. Lopez made it no secret that he was eagerly watching the Josh “Tartan Tornado” Taylor versus Jose Carlos Ramirez (26-1, 17 KO’s) prizefight. The winner would be crowned the undisputed super lightweight champion and the Take Over wanted in on that action!
When Taylor prevailed and scooped up all the belts, Lopez reaffirmed his desire to face him. Yet, the Tartan Tornado snubbed him and told the Take Over to finish his business at 135 first. Aside from having no interest in trading leather with Lopez, Taylor also said he wanted to move up and fight Terence Crawford. Naturally, Lopez did not care for this and chose to say that Taylor was too yellow-bellied to fight. He used the Tartan Tornado’s potential exodus from the division as further proof.
SECOND CHANCES
While Taylor has shown no desire to fight Lopez, that is not true of all the 140-pounders. Jose Carlos Ramirez has taken to his social media to express his willingness to face the Take Over. Obviously, any potential prizefight has lost a great deal of steam with Ramirez losing his belts and coming in off a loss. Yet, let Ramirez tell it, he and Lopez just may be fighting for some super lightweight hardware.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
It would remain to be seen if Ramirez would be in a position to immediately fight for the titles even if Taylor did vacate them. Stranger things have happened! Provided that the Take Over and Ramirez could compete for a belt or two, that would be great for Lopez. The most glaring reason is the fact that he would jump up and immediately fight for a world title. It would also be a great opportunity for Lopez to tangle with a common former foe of Taylor’s.
The Take Over insists that he is head and shoulders a better overall talent than Josh Taylor. Therefore, it would be a mighty good look if he could defeat Ramirez in superior fashion or flat out stop him. If he did either, it would inject a tremendous boost into his argument that he is the better boxer of the two.
Before anything can happen however, Lopez must first take care of his business with George Kambosos. This should not be a major problem as the Take Over is viewed as an overwhelming favorite to win that bout. Assuming that he does, it will be interesting to see if he has any interest in facing Ramirez. If so, with belts on the line or not, that should be a fun, all-action affair for however long it lasts.
By: Bakari Simpson
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