Teofimo Lopez Has Arrived
By Eddie Sanchez
Heading into the fight much of the talk surrounding Teofimo Lopez related to his punching ability, overwhelming confidence and respect for taking on such a huge challenge. It was thought that he would be recognized for his fearlessness, but that he would ultimately fall to the great Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Well it looks like Teofimo didn’t get the memo. He went out there dominated from the start to build a comfortable lead and didn’t shy away when Lomchenko’s activity was building.
Experts and fans alike were dumbfounded mid-way through the fight. Lomachenko was offering Broner-esque levels of inactivity and Teofimo was supremely focused.
In the second half of the fight Lomachenko woke up and started throwing. It was clear that Teofimo’s power was still being respected, but it looked like Lomachenko was going to close out the fight with a string of consecutive rounds.
Heading into the 12th, most viewers and Andre Ward felt that Lomachenko needed the 12th round to earn a draw. Teofimo fought excellently and re-asserted his dominance to clearly win the championship round.
There was little doubt heading into the scorecard announcement and Teofimo was confirmed the winner (116-112, 117-113, 119-109).
This was an excellent career defining win for the twenty three year old Brooklyn native and now we are forced to ask what is next!
We do know that there is no rematch clause tied to their contract, which is refreshing. A rematch would be great for everyone, but I am more interested in the possibilities out there in the deep 135 & 140 pound divisions.
At 135 there are three options: winner of Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz, winner of Devin Haney-Yuriorkis Gamboa, and the winner of Ryan Garcia-Luke Campbell.
At 140 we have Josh Taylor (WBA, IBF) and Jose Ramirez (WBC, WBO) likely meeting for undisputed status. A fight between the winner and Teofimo is easily the best option if he moves to 140.
Per Teofimo himself, he mentioned Devin Haney and the two 140 pounders in his post-fight interview.
It’s nice to see that he is hungry for more, but according to Mike Coppinger, it doesn’t seem likely that Taylor-Ramirez can be the immediate next opponent for Teofimo because of a separate step-aside deal that was made for Jack Catterall.
Given the step-aside deal made for the 140 pounders, it seems that Teofimo will stick with 135 for at least one more fight. Devin Haney who holds the WBC belt (Teofimo beat Lomachenko who has WBC Franchise status) would be a great fight and is clearly one he wants.
Ryan Garcia threw his name into the mix on social media, but it may be unwise for him to look past his next opponent Luke Campbell, easily the toughest test of his young career. Additionally, Gervonta is on the PBC side of the Lightweight division which might mean he isn’t accessible to the Top Rank fighter.
If Teofimo can get Haney next and truly claim all of the 135 belts, then make the jump to 140 to take on the 140 pound champion after their mandatory is settled, that would make Teofimo a global superstar win-lose-or-draw.
It’s clear that the Brooklyn native is hungry for legacy and it’s a refreshing site to see. Hopefully all of the top Lightweight contenders win their fights so he can get a true pick of the litter. For now we can appreciate the fact that there is a new American superstar and he is only twenty three years old.
