Teofimo Lopez Sr, the dad of WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (20-1, 13 KOs), wants Terence Crawford next for his son.
Lopez Sr. is questioning Crawford’s courage to take the fight, believing he’s flat-out scared and is like a war vet returning from the front with a bad case of PTSD from the horrors he experienced.
The 36-year-old unified welterweight champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) isn’t biting, showing any interest in facing the Top Rank-promoted Teofimo, who he partly believes is using his name for clout to get cheap publicity.
Is Crawford Scared?
“I don’t think Crawford wants anything to do with my son. His career is going to be over. That’s how he feels,” said Lopez Sr to Punsh Drunk Boxing. “It’ll like him coming back from Vietnam, with the s*** they see in those wars. He’ll be taking up in the middle of the night, ‘Teo, where are you, Teo?’
“My son is destroying him. He [Crawford] thinks he’s King Kong. Him losing to my son would be a disgrace. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. It would be a nightmare.”
It would be better for Lopez Sr. and Teofimo to move on and stop wasting their energy on fighting Crawford.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has publicly offered Teofimo a unification fight against his new Matchroom Boxing signee, IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias. That’s a big fight for Teofimo and would increase his popularity if he wins.
Crawford’s Silence: Strategy or Disinterest?
The most likely explanation for Crawford ignoring Teofimo and his dad’s frequent callouts of him is that he’s still waiting to see if undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will pick him for his May 4th or September fights this year.
There’s a lot more money for Crawford to make fighting Canelo than there is against Teofimo, and he won’t want to mess up that opportunity by entertaining a likely long negotiation period with Teo.
It took Crawford an entire year to negotiate a fight with Errol Spence Jr. for his last match in July, and it’s a safe bet that it could require nearly as much time for talks for a clash against Teofimo to produce a match. It’s not worth the time and effort for Crawford when he’s still waiting to see if he gets blessed for a fight against Canelo.
