Will Teofimo Lopez Return To Form Mentally?
On August 13, former unified lightweight champion Teofimo “Take Over” Lopez (16-1, 12 KO’s) will make his super lightweight debut. He will do so against the challenge of Pedro “Roca” Campa (34-1-1, 23 KO’s). The prizefight will mark Lopez’ first bout since suffering his upset split decision loss to George Kambosos back on November 27, 2021.
As one might expect, in the aftermath of the Kambosos duel, Lopez told all who would listen that he won the match and was swindled by the judges. Given this view point, many have found it curious that the former champ, who is ranked #5 (WBO), #6 (WBC), #8 (WBA) and #10 (IBF), did not rematch Kambosos. By the same token, there is substantial curiosity surrounding his return opponent.
CHOOSE BETTER PLEASE
Given his name value and overall stature in the sport it would seem only logical that Lopez would return against a more notable adversary. Let Take Over tell the story and he will insist that he has not lost a step regardless of the blemish on his ledger. If this is the case though, why the seeming soft touch? Sure, Campa is ranked #11 (WBO) and has quite a few fights under his belt. Yet the Mexican fighter has only fought outside of his homeland on one occasion.
Given this fact, it should come as little surprise that Campa has little to no buzz or notoriety here in the states. With this being said, it once again begs the question: “if Lopez is completely up to snuff, why is he shooting at such a low target?” At one point, talks were in place for a fight with top prospect Arnold Barboza but that fight didn’t materialize.
Also, former WBA champ Regis Prograis mentioned he is open to a fight with Lopez and has spoken about a potential showdown. For that matter, rising contender Montana Love would have come with far more fanfare than Campa.
Sadly, we could speculate until the cows come home and still not produce an answer! So, let’s just wait and see what version of Lopez hops in the ring on fight night. Perhaps he is just looking for an easy touch to get back in good mental space. Or maybe, Take Over is damaged goods. In either case, we don’t have long to wait to find out!
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By: Bakari Simpson
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