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Teofimo Beats Taylor for 2nd World Title, Beats the Odds, & Retires By Ralph Rimpell PhilBoxing.com Sun, 09 Jul 2023  Last month (June 2023) in his third fight in the 140lbs division after losing his undisputed light weight (135lbs) championship to George Kambosos back in August 2022, Teofimo Lopez won his second world title in the 140lbs division by beating the now former lineal and former WBO junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor. Going into the Josh Taylor fight at Madison Garden there was so much “drama”, as the expression goes, surrounding Teofimo Lopez. There is REPORTEDLY an impending divorce with his wife Cynthia Lopez, custody/visitation issues for his son, friction with his Dad/trainer, allegations against his Promoter of favoritism regarding certain ethnic fighters under the same promotional banner, comments Teofimo was going to kill Taylor in the ring, and that Teofimo wanted to die in the ring. The claim of wanting to die in the ring was taken seriously by some readers who believed it was cry for help regarding possible mental health issues. Some thought that the New York State Athletic commission should have stepped in and cancelled the Teofimo vs Taylor fight. Some dismissed those statements as only hype to help the promotion of his fight against Josh Taylor. Realistically, it’s not the first time a fighter has said he would end another fighter’s life or claimed to want to die during battle (Boxing match). A lot was riding on the outcome of the fight between Lopez vs Taylor because had Lopez, who was the underdog, lost this fight it would’ve appeared that the issues in his personal life had overwhelmed him and he should not be boxing. After Lopez’s last fight against Sandor Martin, on the soundbite viewers heard Lopez question his performance by him saying, “do I still got it” as some at ringside thought that Sandor Martin had done enough to secure victory over Lopez by also knocking him down in the 3rd round. Peers in boxing gave the opinion that Lopez was not physically strong enough or good enough to compete at 140lbs. On fight night Lopez showed mental toughness by stepping into the ring against arguably the best and former undisputed 4 belt champion (IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO) by taking his time, making adjustments, outbox, and hurt Taylor to secure his place back as a world champion/elite fighter. The first 2 rounds appeared that the fight would be Taylor's fight as he used his jab, reach, and height advantage to win the rounds. But after the 3rd round the momentum began to turn in Lopez’s favor as he out boxed and outperformed Taylor to win a decision victory. Perhaps the “Take Over” that was derailed is back on track towards “Big fights” like Teofimo vs Davis, or Teofimo vs Ryan Garcia, or Teofimo vs Rolly Romero. These are arguably and potentially Pay Per View 1 million plus buys if those fights get signed! Regarding allegations of favoritism regarding certain other fighters that is ALL MOOT at this point. When fighters win their fights that usually translates into ticket sales and money for the promotion or Promoter. When fighters generate money for a network they are generally rewarded. At this point because Teofimo and Ryan Garcia are arguably the biggest names at 140lbs those complaints are likely irrelevant at this point. Hopefully Lopez will resolve his personal issues and his Promoter (Top Rank) can come to agreements with the other champion’s Promoter (Premier Boxing Champions) so Teofimo can continue beating the Odds as he beat Taylor last month. That would appear to be the path that Lopez would now take. Initially, Lopez complained that he was not properly financially compensated. Most fighters make that same argument in an effort to be paid more money. Instead of commanding more money to face the elite fighters, Lopez abruptly retired. Then Lopez reportedly sent a text message to World Boxing Organization (WBO) President Francisco Valcarcel that he vacated his newly won WBO junior welterweight title. Recently, there are reports that he wants to be a boxing trainer and has reached out for advice from retired fighters on training other fighters. In spite of all of Teofimo Lopez’s actions since his last fight Undisputed Lightweight king Devin Haney and WBC junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis have expressed an interest in fighting Teofimo Lopez. Perhaps Lopez is genuinely retired or his actions are all a master plan to earn that massive payday all fighters’ desire. Let’s see what happens. Boxing Notes Recent reports are that years ago Terrance Crawford and Errol Spence had a sparring matchup in a Boxing Gym and Spence was rumored to have gotten the best of Crawford. Did this sparring match up between Spence vs Crawford really happen or is it a rumor? Both fighter must be asked if this really happened. If true, it may be a good indicator why each camp feels confident going into the fight based on each fighter feeling the other fighter out….Undisputed Super middleweight Champion Canelo Alavarez vs Undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo was a surprise to me as well for September 30, 2023 just like the fans. Jermall Charlo (WBC middleweight champion) was the Charlo that was reportedly going to fight Canelo. Whether it be Jermell or Jermall, both twins have publicly expressed a desire to fight Canelo. Jermell will be a tough, but winnable fight for Canelo, but who knows Jermell could win. ***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history. "I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.  |
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