Bob Arum says Teofimo Lopez the “fresher fighter” than Josh Taylor

By Boxing News - 06/08/2023 - Comments

By Robert Segal: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says Teofimo Lopez is the “fresher fighter” than Josh Taylor for Saturday’s fight. Taylor, 32, is older than the 25-year-old former unified lightweight champion Teofimo and hasn’t been coddled in the same way by his promoters in terms of soft match-making.

Although Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) has only been a professional fighter for one year longer than the seven-year pro Teofimo (18-1, 13 KOs), he’s fought far tougher competition. Josh has had wars against these fighters:

Regis Prograis
Jose Ramirez
Ivan Baranchyk
Viktor Postol
Jack Catterall

In contrast, Teofimo’s toughest fights have come against this smaller group:

Vasyl Lomachenko
Sandor Martin
George Kambosos Jr
Masayoshi Nakatani

Taylor has fought a lot of guys in tough fights, but he’s done what he needed to for him to get the victories. It’s fair to say that Taylor’s fight against Prograis in 2019 put a lot of wear & tear on him, as he was pretty beaten up at the end.

It’s interesting to note that Lomachenko fought with one good arm against Teofimo, and still came close to beating him. A lot of people thought Sandor Martin was given a raw deal against Teofimo last December at Madison Square Garden.

“No, it is what it is. I don’t see any nervousness in either guy. Both are consummate professionals, and I think it’s going to be a great fight on Saturday,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV when asked about Teofimo Lopez looking nervous for the Josh Taylor fight.

“Well, that’s certainly an advantage for Josh Taylor, no question
about it,” said Arum about the experience that Taylor has. “Whether it’s the key to victory, we’ll have to see. I mean. as far as Teofimo is concerned, he’s clearly the fresher fighter.”

“He never said this is his last fight with Top Rank. His contract is for three more years, and he never said that. He said it’s the last fight with ESPN. Well, he’s in no position to say that because Top Rank has an exclusive deal with ESPN, and he’ll fight with whatever network we want to put the fight on, and that will be ESPN.

“Tim Bradley was a great fighter, he’s a tremendous commentator, he’s a real asset to our telecast, and if Teofimo doesn’t like what Tim Bradley is saying, let him demonstrate that in the ring with his opponents. Let him, for example, look spectacular with Josh Taylor, and Tim will change his mind.

“Let’s watch this fight, and we’ll make our determination after,” said Arum when asked if Devin Haney could fight the winner of Saturday’s fight between Taylor and Teofimo.

“We always sit down with the fighter, manager, and trainer after the fight, and we’ll get him the best possible fight.

“It’s just talk; it’s nonsense. I mean, why would I dignify it with a comment? It’s ludicrous, so I’m not going to even comment,” said Arum when asked about his thoughts on Teofimo saying he wants to take Taylor’s life on Saturday.

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