By Dan Ambrose: Teofimo Lopez affirmed once again on Wednesday that there will be NO rematch for his last opponent Vasily Lomachenko.
You can’t blame Teofimo for opting not to fight Lomachenko again because there’s a high chance that he would lose to the former three-division world champion in a rematch.
Fans think Teofimo is afraid of Lomachenko
So instead of fighting Lomachenko again and getting beaten, Teofimo is justifying his decision not to fight him again by saying he’s moving on to bigger and better things.
Unfortunately, the boxing public believes Teofimo is ducking Lomachenko and lacks the confidence he can beat him a second time.
The four-belt lightweight champion Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) says he believes that if the two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) had beaten him last October, he wouldn’t have given him a rematch.
With the door closed shut for good for a second fight against Lomachenko, Teofimo states that he’s going after the undisputed 140-lb champion Josh Taylor.
But first, Teofimo must take care of his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) next month on October 4th on Triller PPV at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Teofimo probably would have already vacated all four of his lightweight titles by now if not for the tremendous payday he’s getting for the Kambosos Jr fight. Triller Fight Club is paying Teofimo $4 million for the fight, probably $3 million more than the match is really worth. Kambososo Jr. is arguably one of the worst mandatory challengers this writer has seen for a long, long time.
The IBF needs to get their act together and start logically ranking fighters, as they seem to have gotten things upside down with their #1 ranking for Kambosos Jr. He would be better at the bottom of the rankings rather than at the top spot.
Triller has got their work cut out for them to try to make their money back on pay-per-view and ticket sales. Teofimo vs. Kambosos Jr. will likely sell out MSG in New York, but it’s not expected to bring in many PPV buys.
Frankly, it’s not a PPV-worthy fight, as Kambosos Jr. isn’t a household name in the U.S, and he’s not rated highly by boxing fans.
“He’s fighting my leftovers, trying to redeem himself. It’s cute that everyone thinks he’s going to get me again,” said Teofimo to Sky Sports in referring to Lomachenko fighting some of his past opponents.
“The way I look at it now? We’re past that. We’re looking at bigger and better things, like Josh Taylor. There will be no rematch.
“Had I lost, they would have never given me the opportunity, so I’m not doing it. I’m not scared of anyone. I don’t duck or dodge anyone.”
“The guy can talk all he wants, but everybody feels my energy when I step up to the plate.
“I need to get Kambosos Jr out of the way. I don’t want people to back down,” said Teofimo.
What makes it obvious that Teofimo is ducking the rematch with Lomachenko is the massive amount of money that he’s walking away from.
When a fighter chooses to steer away from a fight that would make them millions, you have to believe they don’t like their chances. If Teofimo loses to Lomachenko, it will hurt his earning potential because he would be forced to try and avenge the loss.
Fighting Lomachenko could result in yet another defeat for Teofimo. At the end of the three fights, Teofimo’s career would be the equivalent of meteor dust.