Teofimo Lopez wants more than the $1.2 million that Top Rank is offering him for his October 3 fight against Vasily Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs), and he’s thinking of taking another fight rather than sticking it out for that amount.
With Teofimo being the more entertaining fighter with the more extensive fan base, he should be getting a heck of a lot more money than $1.2 million for the Lomachenko fight.
WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Lomachenko is the A-side, and he’s getting $3.25 million, according to Mike Coppinger. Teofimo (15-0, 12 KOs) is taking a significant risk in this contest and is $1.2 million isn’t a big enough bump up in pay from what he usually gets for it to be worthwhile to take the fight.
The question is, does Top Rank have the money to make Teofimo want to take the fight? While some boxing fans believe that Teofimo is ducking Lomachenko, it’s more about him feeling that $1.2 million is too low for the amount of risk involved.
Teofimo ready to move on
In this era where unbeaten records count a lot in terms of fans and the push that the networks give their favorite fighters, Teofimo would be selling himself for cheap if he agreed to the $1.2 million that is being offered.
If Lopez, 22, walks away from the fight, he an always face Lomachenko in 2021 when crowds are allowed back into sporting events. Lomachenko is the favorite, so there’s a good chance that Teofimo may get beaten. If this is the only time that Lopez ever faces Lomachenko, it makes all the sense in the world for him to want to get as much as possible.
You can’t blame Teofimo if he walks away from the fight because why take a loss for chump change? Lomachenko and Teofimo are heading in different directions after 2020.
Unless Teofimo can get a big payday against the likes of Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, or Devin Haney, he’ll move up to 140 to take on one of the two Top Rank champions Josh Taylor or Jose Ramirez.
“IBF lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez was offered $1.2 million for an Oct. 3 lightweight title bout vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko. He’s seeking far more and the fight’s in jeopardy. Loma accepted a package in excess of $3.25 million.
With the proposed date a little over 60 days away, Teofimo is resigned to defending his title against a different opponent, per sources. Can the fight be salvaged?” said @MikeCoppinger.
It doesn’t make sense for Teofimo to agree to $2 million LESS than what Lomachenko is getting because he’s arguably more popular than the Ukrainian fighter in the U.S. Lomachenko with the hardcore boxing fans. Still, the casuals they seem to be more inclined to want to follow Teofimo.
Does Lomachenko deserve the more significant purse split?
It’s nice that Lomachenko holds more titles and captured two gold medals in the Olympics, but that doesn’t mean anything. The casual boxing fans don’t all that. All they know is they like watching Teofimo’s knockouts and his theatrics.
As we saw in the first Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez fight, it didn’t matter that GGG held three titles. Canelo was still the A-side based on his fan base, and there wasn’t much GGG could do other than to agree to the smaller purse.
Teofimo should be getting parity if not the bigger purse for the Lomachenko fight, so he would be doing the right thing in moving on if he can’t get a 50-50 deal. If Teofimo agrees to the $1.2 million, he’ll regret it later for giving Loma the much bigger purse that he doesn’t deserve.
Boxing fans will be upset if the Lomachenko vs. Teofimo fight doesn’t take place in October, but if the money isn’t there to make the fight happen, then there’s not much that can be done. Teofimo would get a better deal fighting Haney, Ryan Garcia, or Tank Davis than he’s getting with Lomachenko.