Bozy Ennis says Teofimo Lopez was “fighting on his own” without useful instructions from trainer

By Boxing News - 12/08/2021 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis says former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez was out there fighting on his own without any helpful instruction from his coach/father Teofimo Sr. during his fight with George Kambosos Jr. on November 27th.

Bozy says that instead of having a trainer giving Teofimo instructions on what to do during the fight with Kambosos, he had a “motivator” or “hype-man” in his corner with his father unable to tell him what he needed to do.

It wasn’t surprising then that Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs) lost for the first time because he wasn’t adequately prepared for the fight and was directionless, having to figure things out on his own.

Unlike some fighters capable of adapting on the fly like Canelo Alvarez, for instance, Teofimo is unable to do that. He follows instructions and sticks to them.

It appeared that Teofimo was told that he was going to run Kambosos over in the first round, and when that failed to happen, he had no Plan-B from his dad Lopez Sr.

Additionally, Teofimo was fighting with an injury that impacted his breathing ability, making it challenging to fight hard.

Teofimo overlooked Kambosos

I think they bit off more than they can chew, that’s what I think,” said trainer Bozy Ennis to YSM Sports Media on reflecting on Teofimo Lopez’s loss to George Kambosos Jr.

Image: Bozy Ennis says Teofimo Lopez was "fighting on his own" without useful instructions from trainer

“The way that he was talking about the boy [Kambosos] like the boy wasn’t nothing and all that. Now have you ever watched that guy Kambosos?

“He was serious about everything he said, and what he said to him at the press conference came true. Kambosos said what he was going to do, and he did it. That boy wanted to win, and he won that fight.

“They were saying all this negative stuff about him and stuff about his family,” said Ennis about Team Teofimo. “I think someone died in his family, and he said something about his grandfather. I mean, you don’t do stuff like that.

“Now, look what happened to you. All that stuff that you said you were going to do. Keep your mouth shut and just go ahead and fight because when you lose, you’re embarrassed now,” said Bozy about Teofimo.

With the faulty game plan that Teofimo had and his preexisting injury, he was doomed from the very start. His only hope was to score a first round knockout as he’d done against Richard Commey, but he didn’t realize how good of a chin Kambosos possessed.

Ennis says Teofimo was fighting on his own

“How are you going to win ten rounds out of twelve rounds if you only gave him two rounds,” Ennis said of Teofimo. “Somebody said he said 11 rounds and gave him 2. So he can’t even count.

“That’s what I call a ‘motivator,'” said Ennis about Teofimo Sr. failing to give technical instructions in the corner during the Kambosos fight. Instead of telling Teofimo concrete technical instructions, he seemed to be trying to motivate him with encouragement.

“He’s not telling him exactly how to knock him out or what to do. His son is fighting on his own,” Bozy said on Teofimo Sr., leaving his son hanging by not giving him explicit instructions on HOW to beat Kambosos.

“‘Knock him out. He shouldn’t be in the ring with you’ and all that. Come on, man. Give him the straight the straight answers.

“Tell him to go out there and ‘jab or step to the side or when he throws this, throw the uppercut or pivot around inside or outside.’ Stuff like that,” Ennis said.

Shockingly, Teofimo wasn’t being given concrete instructions during the fight from Lopez Sr. because this was a match that he could have won, even with his injury. If Teofimo had used his jab and boxed Kambosos at a close pace, he might have gotten a decision.

What’s disappointing is Teofimo didn’t ask for an immediate rematch with Kambosos because that gave the impression to the fans that he lacks confidence.

You don’t want to be seen in that light at the elite level, particularly against an opponent that is a massive underdog like Kambosos.

Teofimo didn’t get any advice

“He didn’t give him no advice at all. The trainer is going to tell you exactly what to do,” said Ennis when asked what’s the difference between a trainer and a motivator.

“A trainer is going to tell you exactly what to do and how to do it. That’s the difference. A motivator is going to say, ‘Do it for your kids, man. Your mother is watching on TV, man. You got to do it for them. You the best. He can’t beat you.’ That’s a HYPE-man. He’s hyping you up.

“Instead of giving you the right directions to go, he’s giving you the wrong directions,” said Ennis.

Teofimo has already said that he’s going to stick it out with his dad as his coach until the bitter end, which if he keeps putting in performances as we saw against Kambosos, won’t be too much longer.