Looking like a dark vampire at the Ring Awards on Saturday, Teofimo Lopez says he decided not to fight Subriel Matias because he didn’t want to be “chair on the stairs” to help the recently defeated IBF welterweight champion. He says that Matias did not want to win the fight. It didn’t help rebuild the former champion.
What’s more, Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) says he wanted to “greater guarantee” after Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said the fight was not PPV worthy. It is not clear what kind of money Teofimo, 27, wanted to get from Top Rank as his “insurance”, but a deal could not be reached.
Teofimo is now on the shelf without a fight, having been out of the ring for seven months since his harder-than-expected victory over assistant Steve Claggett on June 29 last year.
Lopez says Matias was the only option Top Rank gave him. It wasn’t “more options” and he states that he “put his foot down” because he was tired of the “take it or leave it” fights that were offered to him.
“I feel that the time has come for bigger and better fights. Matias is trying to save himself from losing to Liam Parr in his homeland,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fight Hub TV on why he turned down the fight against Subriel Matias. “I think if I do that, why am I going to be the chair for that guy?
“He will not win. Of course not. Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, mentioned that the fight was not worth the pay-per-view. i agree bob arum the president said that. Whoever was involved in this situation, they really wanted to push the PPV.
“I said if that’s the case, I need insurance. ‘Give me a bigger guarantee and then we can start talking about fighting. Now I’m ready to fight.’ Things did not come to light. They knocked him down. They said I entered in bad faith to fight, but in reality they only gave us one option,” Lopez said.
In hindsight, Teofimo made the right decision not to take the fight with Matias (21-2, 21 KO) because there was an excellent chance he would lose to him. Matias would thrive against Lopez’s fighting style, and he’s on a different level than George Kambosos Jr., who has proven to be Theo’s kryptonite.
New Yorker Lopez can’t handle fighters under pressure. We saw that against Kambosos, Jamaine Ortiz and in the later rounds of his 2020 upset win over Vasily Lomachenko.
“There were no multiple fighter options, and they didn’t want to do unifications,” Teofimo said of Top Rank. “They didn’t want to pay certain fighters x amount of dollars. i just don’t get it. I feel like I’m being shot. So I will take it as my opinion as my market.”
It’s understandable why Top Rank wouldn’t pay an arm and a leg to arrange a unification match for Teofim against one of the other champions because it wouldn’t be a PPV. He is not popular enough, and the other 140-year-old champions are not big names.
Welterweight champions
– Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
– Richardson Hitchins
– Alberto Puello
“You have to think about it as a business perspective, and I’m coming in this year,” Teofimo said. “Wouldn’t you rather see it on linear TV open to the public, than the first year of my return in 2025, doing PPV? Why should I charge you? You are here to watch us. It should be free. ESPN and the network, they still get their cut and so do we. Let’s leave it open for everyone.
“I just put my foot down. I fought the take it or leave it fights for you [Top Rank]and I just can’t do it anymore,” Lopez said.
