By Adam Baskin: Teofimo Lopez says the “only way” his promoters at Top Rank are going to get him to come out of retirement is if they give him an enormous “nine-figure [$100 million] contract” because he says that’s what he’s worth due to him bringing $100M to ESPN, the network platform that Top Rank’s fights are shown on.
It would be worth it for Bob Arum to meet Teofimo’s asking price if he could count o him beating A-level competition. Unfortunately, he’s a mentally shaky guy who had looked dreadfully poor in his previous three fights against Sandor Martin, which he should have lost last December, second-tier fighter Pedro Campa and the ham & egger George Kambosos Jr.
If Teofimo is going to stay out of the ring, waiting for Arum to give him a $100 million contract foolishly, he will be waiting for a long time. Arum wasn’t born yesterday and knows what he sees in Teofimo. Last weekend was just smoke & mirrors, with Teofimo beating a played-out, over-the-hill Josh Taylor, who would arguably lose to at least 10 to 12 of the top 140-pounders.
Teo looking poor against three consecutive mediocre opponents is a sign that he’s NOT worth the risk for Top Rank to give him a $100M contract if he’s going to fall apart and get beaten when they toss him in with any of these killers:
- Shakur Stevenson
- Regis Prograis
- Subriel Matias
- Devin Haney
- Gary Antuanne Russell
The excellent news for Teofimo is that Top Rank likely won’t match him against fighters like Prograis and Gervonta Davis because those guys are with another promoter and fight on a different network.
As such, those are fighters that Teofimo doesn’t need to worry about losing to because they would surely beat him and ruin his career. Bob Arum of Top Rank won’t want to spoil his investment in Teofimo by putting him in with Gervonta or Prograis and watch him beaten far, far worse than he was in his loss to Kambosos Jr.
The only reason Teofimo looked good last Saturday night is because Josh Taylor is shot at 32. He’d been given a controversial 12 round decision in his previous fight against a very, very average fighter in Jack Catterall, who is nowhere near the level of the killers at 140, Regis Prograis, and Subriel Matias.
What the gullible fans saw last Saturday night was a mirage, with Teofimo looking great against an old & feeble over-the-hill Josh Taylor. An average fighter, Catterall looked like gold against Taylor but wasn’t given the decision.
When a basic contender like Catterall is shining like 24K gold against Taylor, that tells you he’s worn out and no longer what he once was. As such, Teofimo looked good for the first time since 2020 because Taylor is completely shot to bits.
The problem is, Teofimo isn’t talented enough to beat Haney and Shakur and would likely lose to Vasyl Lomachenko in a rematch.
It doesn’t work out in Top Rank’s favor if they give Teofimo $100 million and are forced to match him against cream puffs to keep him from getting beaten repeatedly and having fans immediately give up paying to see his fights on ESPN PPV.
“The ONLY way you get Teo back is a nine-figure contract [$100 million] deal because I’ve made ESPN over a $100M,” Teofimo said to the Porter Way Podcast.
“I’m still getting paid a million dollars to fight while all these other fighters have not even done a quarter of what I’ve done and accomplished in the sport; they’re getting eight, 10, 12, 15 million dollars.
“So I’m the black sheep of the industry, and they’re really hurting me on that end. I really want to fix the sport of the boxing world and the corruption that’s going on.”
“The fact that they want us in a slave kind of situation where it’s control and it’s like we are the bosses we’re the ones that people want to come and see fight.
“I know that if I keep fighting, they’re just going to keep giving me pennies when I’m worth more than that. I’m worth eight nine figures, and I’ve been knowing that, and it’s like enough is enough.
“He was going in that ring at like 165, a big boy. I’m trying to crack him, but he knew to survive. He was holding on for dear life [in round twelve], but that comes with the experience,” said Teofimo on why he couldn’t knock out Josh Taylor last Saturday.
