By Jeff Aronow: IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez says he’s going to “massacre” his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr. for all the mouthing off he’s been doing when they meet this month on November 27th on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) says Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) has been disrespecting him with his trash-talking.
After all the talk that the 28-year-old Australian has done in the last couple of months, Teofimo wants to see him show something.
Teofimo predicting massecre of Kambosos
“He’s in trouble, a lot of trouble. He’s going to be massacred,” said Teofimo Lopez about George Kambosos Jr. “One round,” said Teofimo when asked how long his fight with Kambosos will go.
“One round because all that talking doesn’t work. We talk but we back it up. All that talking that you do, you got to show something.
‘You’ve been in two fights that were split decisions. Mickey Bey and Lee Selby. I ain’t Mickey Bey. I ain’t Lee Selby.
“I’m Teofimo Lopez. Lomachenko had to find that out the hard way. Richard Commey had to find that out the hard way. All these guys put them in front of me and they’ll find out the hard way.
Teofimo says Lomachenko beats Haney, Tank, and Shakur
“Vasyl Lomachenko would beat all those guys, all those guys,” Teofimo continued. “Lomachenko would beat up Tank, Lomachenko would devour Haney, Lomachenko would beat Shakur.
“Even though Loma’s on his way out, he’s still got enough to beat these guys,” said Teofimo.
It’s too bad boxing fans will likely never get a chance to see Lomachenko fight Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. The only way those fighters would dare take on Lomachenko is if he gets really old, and he becomes an easy mark.
Lopez predicts 1st round KO of Kambosos
“Being undisputed is a great achievement but I’ve got all my belts in the case,” said Teofimo. “I haven’t displayed them or anything. Why?
“Because I still have to defend them in the lightweight division against jokers like Devin Haney. I’ve got to defend them. After I move to 140, then I can put them out on display because they’re no longer active.
“This is huge, this is everything,” said Teofimo when asked what it means to him to FINALLY be getting the Kambosos fight out of the way so that he can move on to bigger and better things with his career.
“I’m okay with people trying to disrespect me and what I’ve done, but one thing is to disrespect and another thing is to abuse my name. What I’ve done has never been done before. I’m the only lightweight to become undisputed. I’m the youngest in a four-belt era at 24 years young.
“So this fight with Kambososo, I’m going to let this joker know that everything he set out to do. It’s not just to him, it’s for everybody.
“When I knock him out in the first round and do what I got to do, I’m going to look at the whole crowd.
“I’m going to look at all you guys and I’m going to say, ‘I am that and I am more.’ You guys have not seen anything yet. I’m determined, I’m ready and I’m thriving off this,” said Teofimo.
Given how poor Kambosos Jr. looked against 34-year-old Lee Selby and 37-year-old Mickey Bey, it’s believable that Teofimo will knock him out in the first round on November 27th.
Teofimo warns Haney not to overprice himself
“I didn’t come here on just getting lucky,” said Teofimo. “I had to fight and despite earning so many things, I still got to fight. They’re trying to knock my throne down and knock my legacy down.
“Of course, they [Devin Haney] have got to talk crazy because they got whatever they got. When all that happened a couple of weeks ago, me and Devin.
“It was just me and my father and all his people, all Devin Haney’s people. I stood my ground. I ain’t scared of nothing. And I don’t need an entourage. I am an entourage. Ain’t no way in hell that I’m going to let this guy [Haney] slide,” Teofimo said.
“One thing that I to do. Purse bids, you got to love those purse bids. Do you know why? Triller was a fluke. Cool with me. Learn from it. Now, we got Matchroom and DAZN, Top Rank, and ESPN, and whoever wants to join that few.
“The thing is, you can’t overprice yourself. I hold all the belts. What do you hold? A belt that was sent to you via email [from the WBC]. You can’t hold that with me. And you can’t. You got to show the work,” said Teofimo.
It sounds like there’s going to be big trouble ahead when Teofimo and Haney sit down at the bargaining table to try and put a fight together.
It’s likely that Teofimo will try and justify a wide split for the fight with Haney due to him holding three belts and Devin just one.
That’s probably not going to fly with him, which means Teofimo will miss out on the big fight that he needs to stick the label of the undisputed lightweight champion on himself for a short period.
Teofimo trying to set the tone
“I already accomplished everything,” said Teofimo. “I am the lightweight division.
“I’ll be the one to say it. If there’s a world champion, I’ll be the one to say it, ‘I still got work to do at the 135 division.’ I got to show you again on November 27th.
“You guys tune in. Get down on that app right now, DAZN, and that’s it. You guys can watch it. I’m only getting better.
“That’s the thing about competition. You can’t succeed to be great without fighting the great.
“The best fight the best, and you become a legend. That’s what I’m all about. I’m trying to set that tone for everybody,” said Teofimo.
Well, the way for Teofimo, 24, to set the tone for the 135-lb division is to become the undisputed champion in the true sense by beating WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney next.
Teofimo has been referring to himself as the undisputed champion since last year in October after beating Vasily Lomachenko, but the reality is, he holds three real belts [IBF, WBA & WBO] and the WBC Franchise title, which isn’t a transferable title.
Haney has the WBC title that Teofimo needs to for him to refer to himself as the undisputed champion.
