BN Verdict: Controlled chaos is key as Lopez ousts Taylor in unconventional New York therapy session
During the week of fighting, self-appointed mental health experts told Teofimo Lopez that he should be sitting in a therapist’s chair rather than appearing in the boxing ring, almost as if he were in the martial arts. boxing station and call it your safe space or home, don’t. doesn’t require some crazy element in the first place.
Perhaps, when it comes down to it, some boxers hide it better than others, this madness, and some have better ways of using it — fuel, motivation — than others. For someone like Lopez, as honest as the day is, he did an admittedly terrible job of hiding it ahead of tonight’s game (June 10) against Josh Taylor in New York, but in the end… very well used it to his advantage that very night. “Tonight is for me,” he told reporters on the sidelines, shortly after being handed the unanimous decision to Taylor (117-11, 115-113, 115-113). “Tonight is for me.”
Divorced from his partner of five years, with whom he shares a child, Lopez admits he has been “really affected mentally” by the ordeal but says the pressure of competing in the boxing ring him, against a champion like Taylor, was something he couldn’t avoid. needed in his life tonight—if only as a distraction, an outlet, some form of solace. And, given his troubles, plus his honesty, who are we to argue that? Indeed, if not occasionally used as a unique form of therapy, what real purpose does boxing serve in a supposedly civilized society? Is it merely a money-making venture? Is it just a way for violent men and women to accept their violence without going to jail?
In fact, many boxers come to boxing to get rid of themselves and their problems in the first place. Spend any decent amount of time around one of them and you’ll quickly realize that they have a different connection to the rest of us. In other words, it won’t take you long to understand why they choose to get punched in the head for a living, and you and many others already see alternatives in finding money, purpose, habits familiarity and joy. Only a handful of them would have the luxury of treating boxing purely as a sport, competition or a way of making money. Unfortunately, most are unnecessarily absorbed in it.
Teofimo Lopez (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Teofimo Lopez is one such fighter. Not a child with a silver spoon, he grew up with difficulty and with a father whose identity and connection, sometimes frightening, to the success his son enjoyed. on the boxing ring. Add to that his recent troubles, including breaking up with the woman he once loved and is now trying to both fight and forget, and is it really a surprise that he ended in the boxing ring instead of on the therapist’s couch? After all, this is a man who knows nothing but boxing and, like his outspoken father, is nothing without the relief he can experience on fight night; the walk to the ring, the tension in the intro, the happy feeling of having the power to stop the crowd and all the other voices, both in the corner and in one’s head, as well as the feeling extreme excitement when punching another man into the ring. face, and see the hurt on this face, and then get something similar from them in retaliation. This, for a 25-year-old like Lopez, must definitely be considered a kind of therapy. Because if he wanted to punish himself for his recent derailment, boxing, this most abusive partner, gave him that opportunity tonight. Conversely, if he wants to punish someone for his life going wrong, he has that opportunity tonight. Either way, with all that has happened, chances are Lopez has wanted to smack something or someone in the face for a long time. He may also want to get himself hit so hard that he wakes up from his current nightmare and feels only physical pain.
Tonight, against Taylor in New York, he was able to achieve both. Better yet, over the course of 12 rounds, Lopez managed to quell doubts, including myself, who picked Taylor to beat him ahead of their WBO lightweight title fight at Madison Square Garden. Too fast, too quick, and always too smart, he led Taylor to dance in the many rounds they shared and often counterattacked him with his short, powerful right hand whenever Scot was growing desperate, who sleepwalked in too many matches, trying to be strong.
In the end, it was the kind of performance that left critics not only eating their humble pie but also questioning why they felt Taylor was capable of beating Lopez in the first place. After all, to see the two together is to see the obvious difference in class and quality between the pair. Furthermore, seeing Lopez continue to control and largely overwhelm Taylor forces one to remember that this is a man, Lopez, who previously defeated the great Vasiliy Lomachenko, a skilled southern tennis player. far superior to Josh Taylor, 19-1(13). The fact that Lopez, also currently 19-1 (13), went on to lose instantly in a nasty match against George Kambosos caused us all to re-evaluate our opinion of him, however, the The back then was perhaps balanced by Taylor’s recent struggle with Jack Catterall, a boxer who, like Lopez, proved too sharp for the relatively simple ultralightweight champion from the Prestonpans .
However, you live and learn. Sometimes, as tonight proved, it is best not to assume anything, whether in boxing or in the head of others, and sometimes it is better not to judge other people’s behavior in such a way. your.
The irony, of course, is that long before Lopez beat Taylor tonight in the ring, he was described as “crazy” and “mentally unwell” and widely believed by those to be healthy behavior. strongly indicated. their phones and let strangers know their opinions about other strangers, or in other words, shout these opinions out in front of a webcam in a room in their home.
So perhaps, because of this, today there is a normalized, socially accepted madness and a more honest madness. If that is indeed the case, it would mean that Teofimo Lopez’s only crime, if it can even be considered so, is that he was simply being too honest during the teamfight and weeks before. there. That he talked too much. That he shared too much. That he was seen too much. Or maybe the bigger truth is that we all have our flaws and weaknesses and Lopez, a boxer more than a philosopher, and a spoiled man in the sport forever salutes. welcome such men, there is no way to hide these defects and weaknesses in the way of others. In fact, it’s only when he’s in the ring that he can do a good job of hiding both them and himself from the world. Only when he was in the ring could he feel normal, balanced and fine for 36 minutes. Only when he is in the ring can he relax, breathe and express himself; the foundation of any successful therapy session.
