Teofimo Lopez Crowns Himself King, But Fans And Reality Disagree: Where Does “The Takeover” Stand In 140?
Teofimo Lopez has himself ranked as #1 in the 140-lb division due to his victory over former undisputed lightweight champion Josh Taylor last June.
People don’t view Teofimo as #1, and you can argue his popularity has dropped off significantly since his loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021. Top Rank still promotes Teofimo, but it’s unclear what they will do with him.
With Teofimo’s inflated view of his own star power, it could prove to be impossible for Top Rank to get him the big fights that he wants.
The Lopez List vs. Reality
During an interview today, WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (19-1, 13 KOs) revealed that he wants a fight with Devin Haney, who he views as #2 at 140, and Terence Crawford.
Unfortunately, the way Teofimo talks, it doesn’t seem realistic that he’ll be able to negotiate a fight with either of those fighters, and he may be stuck continuing to face non-stars, like he’s doing next month when he defends against #11 WBO Jamaine Ortiz on February 8th in Las Vegas.
1. Teofimo Lopez
2. Devin Haney
3. Subriel Matias
4. Rolando Romero
5. Ismael Barroso
6. Ryan Garcia
Fighting For Relevance
Fans view IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias (20-1, 20 KOs) as the #1 fighter in the division and WBC champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) as #2.
Teofimo is seen as #3, and he may further slip down the list if he reverts back to the poor performances he’d turned in before beating the faded old champion Josh Taylor last year.
Before Top Rank fixed Teofimo against Taylor, he’d struggled in three consecutive fights against Sandor Martin, Pedro Campa, and George Kambosos Jr.
Some believe that Teofimo isn’t cogent anymore after the punishment he took against Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. The Teofimo fans once knew hasn’t looked the same since the seventh round of the Lomachenko fight.
“We got Tefoimo as #1. Devin Haney is #2, [Subriel] Matias is #3, Rolando Romero is #4, [Ismael] Barroso is #5, and Ryan Garcia is #6. He still has to work his way up,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fight Hub TV when asked to pick the top 140-pounders excluding himself, which he couldn’t do.
“You got to work your way up,” Teofimo continued about Ryan. “Even though you are the star power and everything, you still got to win a world title in my eyes in order to say that you are in that rank.
“Let’s say that so I can build this Haney fight, yeah,” said Teofimo when asked if this is the order of fighters that he feels could challenge him the most,” said Teofimo.
