Teofimo Lopez says he wants to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis next, following his Shakur-esque performance last Saturday. He successfully defended his WBO light welterweight title with a boring-to-watch 12-round unanimous decision over Arnold Barboza Jr. at Times Square.
Barboza Jr. had the perfect style for Teo to beat, a light-hitting boxer with a low punch output. Lopez does well against those types of fighters, but struggles against pressure fighters. Still, Teofimo did NOT look good against Barboza Jr. last night.
He looked scared and was wasting time with needless showboating. There was no purpose for the showboating because Teofimo wasn’t landing punches. He was dancing without connecting. It made him look like a clown.
Lopez won by scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110. Due to Teo’s constant movement, the ringside crowd was deathly quiet and had nothing to get excited about.
Punch Stats
– Teofimo Lopez: 126 punches of 571 for 22.07%
– Arnold Barboza Jr.: 70 punches of 424 for 16.51%
Ennis Mismatch?
“We want Boots at 147,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fight Hub TV at the post-fight press conference when asked who he wants to fight next. “I don’t know. I can keep my Ring Magazine. I might go up and come back down,” said Lopez on whether he would stay at 147 or return to 140 after facing Ennis.
Teofimo wants to go straight to 147 and challenge Ennis for his IBF and WBA titles. That’s a bad matchup for Lopez because he won’t get a cheap win over Ennis by running around the ring. Boots will pressure Teo like Jamaine Ortiz and George Kambosos Jr. did.
“I had to show to the judges that I was being the more active fighter,” said Teofimo when asked if Arnold Barboza Jr. presented any problems for him. Throw more combinations. From this fight, I learned that I got to throw a little more combinations because they don’t know. They’re scared of me,” said Teofimo.
Lopez threw single shots all night and retreated whenever Barboza Jr. applied pressure. Teo’s needless movement made the fight dull for the fans and for him. It was the second most boring fight behind the Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez fight.
Teofimo looked like he’d been watching a lot of Shakur Stevenson’s fight, preparing for the Barboza Jr fight, because he had his style down. It was a 100% copy of Shakur. That’s not a compliment. Teo stunk out the place last night with his movement and non-engagement.