Promoter Bob Arum is frustrated with what he can do for Teofimo Lopez after his last fight rejection against Subriel Matias. The head of Top Rank points out that he offered fights to WBO welterweight champion Teofim (21-1, 13 KOs), but nothing happened.
The fall of Teofim
Lopez lacks self-awareness and doesn’t get it its shares bottomed out since his loss to George Kambosos. He is unable to decide and get the fights he wants. Moreover, Teo refuses offers to help him rebuild his brand.
Fans don’t have much of an opinion about Teofim anymore, and the newer ones have no idea who he is. His recent performance against the journeyman Steve Claggett it was something awful, showing that this is the level at which he operates.
Arum isn’t saying who he’ll offer Lopez next, but if he’s lucky, he could get a chance to fight Ryan Garcia if he beats Devin Haney in their rematch this year. Garcia will probably win that fight easily, and he’ll need Teofimo next if he doesn’t get stuffed with some wacky request. Lopez must realize that he is not the A-side for the fights against Haney and Ryan. They are arguably bigger names than him.
It wouldn’t be if Teofimo hadn’t wreaked havoc on his career since 2021, looking terrible in nearly every fight since a narrow win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. Something changed with Theo after that fight, and some believe the punishment he took in that grueling the match destroyed him. Now he looks clueless in the ring, and talks nonsense during interviews.
It seems it will end badly between Arum and Theofimpus, as the Brooklyn, New York native destroys his career by turning down fights. Theo is now like a fast-growing cancer; there’s probably no way to cut it out.
So far, Lopez hasn’t shown the ability to beat top opposition. He struggled with opponents, losing to George Kambosos Jr. and won two controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. Many fans believe Teofimo lost both fights, meaning his true record should be 19-3, not 21-1.
Arum’s frustration
While Arum hasn’t given up on the once promising 27-year-old Lopez, it sounds hopeless. Teofimo has underperformed in five of his last six fights since 2021 and still believes he is an elite-level fighter. He wastes time calling out fighters above his class, like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford.
Perhaps it would be better if Arum washed his hands of Teofim and said: ‘All the best.’ He will NOT turn his career around to become the fighter many fans thought he would be when everything was going well for him from 2018 to 2020. Again, Lomachenko is where things have changed. Teofimo is not the same fighter.
Some of that could be because he’s no longer fighting at 135, and doesn’t have the size advantage he routinely enjoyed when competing against smaller lightweights. If you compare Teofim’s size to Lomachenko’s on fight night, it’s pretty clear that he competed outside his weight class.
Since moving up to 140, Lopez has looked average and should have lost twice against Jamaine and Sandor. You can only imagine what talents like Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, Alberto Puerllo, Ryan and Haney would have done to Teofimo if they had fought him thus far.
Bob Arum on Teofimo Lopez: “The question is what won’t he refuse?” Where is his head? Who does he want to fight? We gave him a whole group of fighters. And it’s not like he has great performances. He looked awful with [Jamaine] Ortiz and people thought he lost it… pic.twitter.com/P2JM1gG9iZ
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 14, 2025
