Teofimo Lopez’s potential WBO light heavyweight title defense against #4 Subriel Matias on March 15 could be shown on regular ESPN rather than PPV. That’s good news for fans, who otherwise wouldn’t be willing to dig deep to pay to see this fight.
Boxingscene’s Lance Pugmire reports that Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is not excited about putting this fight on PPV due to the piracy issues that are going on. This cuts into promoters’ earnings, making some events less worth putting behind a paywall.
Lopez vs. Matias: No PPV
Compounding the problem is that Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) and former IBF welterweight champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) are not PPV fighters. Unfortunately, it’s not a pay-per-view worthy fight. Matias is not a household name in the US and Teofimo has been inconsistent in his fights over the last four years.
For Teofimo to be in a PPV fight, he needs someone popular, like one of these fighters:
– Ryan Garcia
– Devin Haney
– Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Terence Crawford
– Jaron Ennis
None of those guys have shown any interest in fighting Theo, which is understandable since it’s not a draw. Also, he has had a string of controversial wins over the past five years that make him a risky fight. The last thing these guys need is to be on the receiving end of the home team’s decision against Lopez.
You just don’t know what you’re going to get with Theo. He looks great and then looks terrible against an opponent who is designed for window dressing. His behavior outside the ring is strange, as he says strange things during interviews.
Teofimo needs a good PR coach to give him talking points and control his tendency to be a motorist, which sounds like he’s coming from the left.
Teo’s lack of attractiveness
Although Teofimo, 27, is a two-division world champion, he has failed to become a major attraction due to losses to George Kambosos, controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin and a lack of fights against big opponents.
In his nine-year career, Lopez fought only one popular fighter, Vasiliy Lomachenko, with whom he last fought five years ago, in 2020.
Matchroom-promoted Matias, 32, lost his IBF 140lb title to Liam Parr via a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 last year in Manati, Puerto Rico. Matias did not perform well in that defeat, Paro outboxed him and roughed him up. In Matias’ last fight, he stopped Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9th.
Lopez’s last five contests
– Steve Claggett: UD 12
– Jamaine Ortiz: UD 12 [*controversial]
– Josh Taylor: UD 12
– Šandor Martin: SD 10 [*controversial]
– Pedro Campa: TKO 7
Teofimo must move to the welterweight category and go after one of the world champions, such as Brian Norman or Eimantas Stanionis. IBF champion Jaron Ennis is reportedly not interested in fighting Lopez, but could change his mind if he gets his hands on the belt. Ennis is hungry for a belt.
If you’re Top Rank, you must be scratching your head wondering how to turn Lopez into an old man. It’s been downhill since his one big career win against Lomachenko.
