Teofimo Lopez Is Currently Facilitating his Own Decline
Fighters who talk trash and make headlines tend either be loved or loathed. The latter has become the case for reigning WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez. While the 140-pound champion is getting a load of attention, he’s doing so for all the wrong reasons.
CHASING A HOPELESS DREAM-FIGHT
Lopez has made no bones about his desire to fight the reigning WBA junior middleweight champion, Terence “Bud” Crawford. The two have engaged in several heated exchanges on social media. The Takeover arguably crossed the line in the minds of a few observers when he referred to Crawford as a “Monkey.”
Crawford is an established star and a future Hall of Famer; He doesn’t need Lopez. The only one beating the drums for that fight is Lopez. His constant talk about Crawford smacks of clout-chasing and a way to keep his name in the mouths of the public.
MOSTLY BARK AND LITTLE BITE
Questionable rhetoric aside, there are other issues for The Takeover. While he’s a two-division world champion, his career has flatlined.
He’s done nothing great since the most significant moment of his career in December 2019, when he scored his split-decision win over Vasyl Lomachenko to become the unified champion at 135. Name another high-profile win against an A-level opponent, if you can.
Some may retort by noting Lopez’s win over Josh Taylor to win the WBO junior welterweight strap in June 2023. However, that victory has lost its luster because Taylor has lost his last two fights and appears to be on the downslide
LOPEZ AND DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
The Takeover loves talking about value and claiming he’s a modern-day legend. Yet, this is the same person who lost the unified lightweight titles to George Kambosos, a B-level fighter, at best. The reality is that Lopez is not even the best or most valuable commodity within the promotional outlet that he currently fights for, Top Rank. That would be one Naoya Inoue.
In boxing, few things are worse than someone who rarely backs up their big talk. It will lead to increasingly falling out of favor with fans and media alike. That’s the current state of Lopez, who has become one of the sport’s more frustrating and polarizing figures.
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