Thanks to the astonishingly controversial and inflammatory comments of Teofimo Lopez, the upcoming Josh Taylor-Lopez fight, set for June 10 in New York, has some very real bad blood attached to it. Fans read the disgusting things former lightweight champion Lopez had to say earlier this week – “I said it like it is, I want to kill Josh Taylor” and further crazy talk coming from a so-called professional athlete – and now Taylor has responded.
Taylor, who will be defending his WBO 140 pound title against Lopez at Madison Square Garden, didn’t go anywhere near as far as Lopez did, yet the 32-year-old Scottish hero didn’t exactly mince his words either.
“He can come and try and take my life, let’s see who is the one who ends up in the back of an ambulance,” Taylor said when speaking with BroBible. “That may be a horrible comment but let him come and try, let’s see what happens. Good on him.”
Taylor had previously predicted a KO or stoppage win over Lopez, and it is possible this is what upset Teofimo. But whatever upset Lopez – and he is clearly very upset about something, maybe a lot of things – there is never any excuse for coming out with the kind of sick garbage Lopez came out with here in the lead-up to this fight.
Fighters do risk their lives each and every time they step into the ring, and Lopez, who has a big following, should know better. A whole lot better.
The words have been nasty from both sides, from Lopez especially, and we now wait and see what happens on fight night. Will the bad blood continue? Will these two shake hands before, even after the fight is over with? Will we see a KO either way? One thing else that will prove interesting on the night of the fight is this – who will the fans be rooting for? Taylor is the away fighter, yes, but might many of Lopez’s fans have been turned off due to his unsavory comments and disgusting threats, and if so, will these fans get behind Taylor?
Some people will of course say that Lopez said what he said merely in an effort to boost poor ticket sales. But the sad thing is, Lopez really did seem to mean what he said. Shame on him if this was the case.