Teofimo Lopez Continues Racist Rhetoric to Antagonize Crawford
Well, there is no question about it – WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (21-1, 13 KO’s) is standing on his racist monkey comments . . . well kind of. Since coming under fire, Lopez has admitted that the term was offensive and he knows that it is racially charged. Somehow however, in his brain, The Takeover wants the world to believe he is not being racist but rather clever when going after WBA 154-pound champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (41-0, 31KO).
In a recent interview with Front Row, The Takeover tripped and stumbled over a very contradictory explanation of his thought process.
“This is the fight game, so a lot of people don’t quite understand that term [monkey] and how things work. And me, I sat back and thought about it for 48 hours before I went onto an interview and expressed what I expressed . . . I’m trying everything to possibly make a fight with the best fighting the best. We’re doing it, we’re pushing it and nothing is happening – no traction, no nothing.
But if I hit, it almost seems illegal. What I mentioned and what I said, right, it sounds racial. But the slur was illegal, it was a legal blow right to the beltline. That’s what it was, a legal blow right to the beltline. It doesn’t state that I called them specifically the n-word or any of those things.”
This is sad. In his own rebuttal, he references his term as a racial slur which by literal definition is an insult. Furthermore, if there was nothing wrong with it, there would have been no need to mull it over for two days before blurting it out. Lastly, its the epitome of pitiful when your only defense is: ‘but did I say the N word?’
NOTHING NEW HERE
Along these lines, it’s remarkably difficult to believe that Lopez believes it’s “all just business.” His own father and chief second, Teofimo Lopez Sr., admits that racially slurring a fighter in a past training session got him promptly punched in the mouth. Likewise, his father also admits that boxing dynamo Andre Ward chewed him out for the same while working The Takeover’s corner during the Masayoshi Nakatani fight.
Said to say, Team Lopez has gotten all sorts of feedback ranging from harsh words to knuckles in the teeth to reinforce the fact that no one is playing about or taking these racial insults lightly. Unfortunately, this recent ugly episode and its dunderheaded, contradictory rationale is becoming par for the course for Lopez.
NO FUTURE IN PRETENDING
As can be seen, the Lopez’s have been having run-ins over race for years but somehow remain willingly clueless. The Takeover has erroneously claimed to be a former undisputed champion for years, although it was never true. Lopez regularly raves about how great a businessman he is and how he is revolutionizing the sport.
Recently though, he himself revealed that he has yet to receive over a million dollar payday. If true, from the outside looking in, this gives the impression that Lopez is the lowest paid of all the marquee fighters from lightweight through welterweight.
Having recounted these handful of events, a pattern of Lopez talking about both sides of his neck begins to materialize. Ideally though, moving forward, The Takeover will be able to contract fights without stooping to racist tropes. Sadly though, today is not that day!
“I know this is going to cause some friction, alright. Well, fuck you [Crawford], you a monkey to me right now! And fuck it, it is what it is, its the fight game!”
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