Teofimo Lopez’s promoters at Top Rank reportedly sent an offer to IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias for a unification fight at 140 for Super Bowl weekend in February.
Matias (20-1, 20 KOs), coming off of a fifth round stoppage win over Shohjahon Ergashev, turned down the offer from Top Rank, according to Thaboxingvoice.
Instead, Matias wants to schedule the fight with Teofimo (19-1, 13 KOf) for April because he needs time to heal from a hand injury from the Ergashev fight.
It’s unclear how many fights that Teofimo has left on his Top Rank contract. If it’s about to end, it’s understandable why they would want to throw Teofimo in with the best available opponent.
Too short a window
Matias would only have eight weeks to prepare for the fight with Teofimo if he agreed to fight him in February, which is a bad deal given how grueling his fight with Ergashev was.
It would be too short of a window for Matias to recover from his hand injury to fight Teofimo during Super Bowl weekend.
If you’re Top Rank, it works in your favor to have Teo fight an injured Matias, who wouldn’t be at full strength dealing with a lingering hand problem.
It’s unclear whether Top Rank discussed their plans with Teofimo about wanting to match him against Matias, as it’s difficult to believe that Teo would want to fight this kind of slugger, especially given that he’s not a big name like Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia or Gervonta Davis.
Will Teofimo price himself out?
If Teofimo prices himself out for the Matias fight, which would seem likely, that match won’t happen. It won’t work if Teofimo insists on getting an unheard-of amount of money for a fight with Matias, as it’s a fight that mainly hardcore boxing fans would be interested in watching.
It’s predictable that Teofimo will ask for a King’s ransom for a unification clash against Matias and continue to sit inactive, missing out.
Casual fans likely have never heard of Matias in the U.S. and wouldn’t be willing to pay to watch Teofimo, who isn’t popular either, fight him. Teofimo has yet to become a big name with casual fans yet, and the reason for that is obvious.
Teofimo has only fought one notable opponent in his career, Vasily Lomachenko, who lost to George Kambosos Jr., given a controversial win over Sandor Martin, and then beat a washed-up Jack Catterall.
It would be wise for Teofimo to accept what is offered to him for the Matias fight because if he wins, his popularity will increase, leading to bigger paydays against the big names.
On the bench
Teo is still a newbie in fans’ eyes, and he’s not helping himself become known by fighting rarely and failing to face the talented opposition. Lomachenko was old, small, and injured when he fought the much bigger Teofimo in 2020. You can’t give Teofimo full credit for that win due to all the things he had in his favor.
Top Rank has got to do something with Teofimo, as he hasn’t fought since June when he beat the past-his-best former undisputed 140-lb champion Josh Taylor by a twelve round unanimous decision.
They would like the New York native Teofimo to fight in February during the Super Bowl weekend, but if he prices himself out, he’ll continue to sit on the bench, watching his career float by from the sidelines.
Top Rank wants Matias, but does Teofimo? There are a lot of doubts about whether Teo would agree to fight Matias because he’s not old & shot like the best wins of his career. How would he deal with Matias if Teofimo can’t even beat Sandor Martin or George Kambosos?
Teofimo has been careful about the type of opposition he has faced, picking guys at the right time of their careers when they’re starting to show signs of age.
It’s obvious that Teofimo’s best career wins were against older fighters who had seen better days in their careers, giving him a considerable youth advantage over them.
Teofimo’s best wins:
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Josh Taylor
- Richard Commey
"Just spoke to the manager of Subriel Matias, the IBF champion. Confirmed that Teofimo Lopez and his team sent an offer to fight in February Super Bowl weekend. Unfortunately, Matias' team had to turn it down due to a hand injury. They are now working on rescheduling the fight… pic.twitter.com/PDsnC0Q7L5
— ThaBoxingvoice (@ThaBoxingVoice) December 7, 2023
I spoke to someone with knowledge of the situation that is NOT with Teo's Team, Which confirms "They "Top Rank sent the Offer. The Fighters manager confirms.
— ThaBoxingvoice (@ThaBoxingVoice) December 7, 2023
