Teofimo Lopez hits like a 154-pounder says trainer

By Tim Compton - 05/22/2020 - Comments

Trainer Teofimo Lopez Sr. can’t wait until his son Teofimo Jr. (15-0, 12 KOs) gets a chance to fight WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) in September. The two will be fighting for all four of the world titles at 135, and Teofimo Sr. is predicting that his son is going to knockout the aging Lomachenko.

Most boxing fans are predicting a win for Lomachenko against Teofimo, but the people could be wrong. The power that Teofimo is showing lately may take away Lomachenko’s skills in the boxing department.

There’s no question at all that Lomachenko has more experience and more skills than Teofimo. But what Lomachenko doesn’t have is youth or power.

The only way Lomachenko, 32, is going to beat Teofimo is if he outboxes him, and frustrates him for the entire 12 round fight. That’s going to be hard for Lomachenko to do that for the entire 2 round fight with Teofimo hitting him with major shots.

Teofimo Lopez hits like a 154-pounder says trainer

Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney = 50/50 fight

“That’s a 50-50 fight,” said Teofimo Sr. to ESNEWS when asked who wins in a fight between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. “They both fought in the amateurs, and they’ve fought the same caliber of fighters that they’ve been fighting.

They’ve fought before, so they know each other. I give a little bit more of an edge to Ryan Garcia because he’s got pop. He’s got a little pop,” said Teofimo Sr.

Ryan would be a dangerous opponent for Haney because of his power, and he could knock him out. Both of these guys are potential future opponents for Teofimo, and it’s going to be interesting to see them battle. By the time Ryan and Haney are given permission to fight Teofimo, he’ll have moved up to 140 a long time ago.

Teofimo wanted to fight Devin Haney, but negotiations never even started. Lopez spoke to his manager to contact Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn to start negotiating, but he, for some reason, never called them back. It could be that Lopez was too dangerous, or maybe he’s got someone else in mind for Devin.

Linares should stay away from Teofimo Lopez

“He don’t want that. Trust me, he don’t want that,” said Teofimo Sr. when asked his thoughts on a fight between Teofimo and Jorge Linares. “Linares had his good days, but Linares is already on his way out.

“My son is a hungry lion right now. Linares was like that back six or seven years ago. You saw what happened to Linares when he went up to 140. If he goes in there with my son, it’s just like fighting a 140-pounder. My son hits like a 154-pounder.

“With Linares, if this guy [Pablo Cesar Cano] was able to muscle him down because of his power, imagine what my son is going to do to him. That’s a dangerous fight for Linares. I don’t think we’ll ever fight Linares because we’re going to be way gone by that time,” said Teofimo sr.

Former three-division world champion Jorge Linares wants Ryan Garcia. He hasn’t said anything about wanting to fight Teofimo, and he probably won’t.

Teofimo Lopez hits like a 154-pounder says trainer

Teofimo looking forward to Lomachenko fight

“My son is looking forward to the fight with Lomachenko,” said Teofimo Sr. “We have the opportunity to unify all four belts,” said Teofimo Sr. about his son. “Pernell Whitaker only did three because the WBO didn’t exist back then.

“We’re going to be the first one in history to win four belts in the lightweight division, and be one of the pound-for-pound kings of boxing right now.

“Look at us now. This is only the beginning. Why do you think Loma talks so good about us? I never saw Loma talk good about nobody.

“Why is Loma talking back to us? You never saw Loma talking back to nobody because I’m inside his head. He knows his time is done. It’s over.

“They’re not going to remember him for his two little gold medals they gave him over there. They’re going to remember him for the a** whooping my son is going to give him. That’s what I said two years ago. What did he call us? He called us clowns. Disrespecting me and disrespecting my son,” said Teofimo Sr.

This is the fight that could turn Teofimo into a star overnight if he destroys Lomachenko. Going into that contest, boxing fans will lean in the direction of Lomachenko, and give Teofimo very little chance. The explosive power and size of Teofimo are going to make him dangerous at all times fr Lomachenko.

Teofimo Sr. talks Lopez’s KO of Mason Menard

“When I went up to Loma at the hotel and said, ‘We’re going to win this, and then we’re going to come after you next,'” said Teofimo Sr. in recalling him having a conversation with Lomachenko in 2018.

“The whole world knew what I thought. Then I went to my son, and we’re about to go into the ring. The music is blowing up, and we’re about to fight Mason Menard.

“I grabbed him and said, ‘Listen, if you don’t do something remarkable tonight, the whole town is going to eat me alive. My son said, ‘Dad, you keep talking. I’m going to back it up all the time. Bang, he knocks out Mason Menard, and no one ever said anything to me again.

“They just left me alone. He does that to everybody because he catches you clean. He knows what he’s doing in there. There’s a lot of fighters and a lot of boxers that just throw punches, and they try to get lucky. My son sets you up. That’s the whole problem with it. People say, ‘What the hell just happened.’

“He made Mason [Menard] look so easy. All that bull s*** moving around and going backward and people going crazy. That’s not boxing. Boxing is looking beautiful. You’ve got to look like a movie,” said Teofimo Sr.

Teofimo’s first-round knockout win over Mason Menard in 2018 was brutal to watch. He landed a huge right hand to the head of Menard that sent him down face first.

Teofimo Lopez hits like a 154-pounder says trainer

Fighting clean is important

“That’s what you see when you see my son,” said Teofimo Sr. in saying his son looks like a movie when he fights. “Have you ever see my son hugging people, grabbing people, and all this crazy s***? It’s like watching an opera. It’s so set up and so beautiful the way he moves in the ring.

“You don’t see him dirty, you don’t see him hitting in the back of the head, and you don’t see him elbowing people, grabbing them every time he throws a combination. That’s why I like to watch my son and nobody else. He never looks off balance. He looks so beautiful in the fight,” said Teofimo Sr.

Lomachenko isn’t a dirty fighter,  so there’s no much for Teofimo to worry about in this fight as far as that’s concerned. If Teofimo this Lomachenko with the same type of punch that he stopped Richard Commey and Menard, then he’ll likely KO him too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plFLni4oxuI