Teofimo Lopez says his fight with the capable Steve Claggett will make his path easier for his next fight after he’s victorious tonight at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.
Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) defends his WBO light welterweight title against a fighter that he views as a real-life Rocky Balboa, 34-year-old Claggett (38-7-1, 26 KOs), who picked out and given a once-in-a-lifetime title shot.
Unrealistic Aspirations
The 26-year-old Top Rank-promoted Teofimo hasn’t given a name that he will fight next, but he’s mentioned Terence Crawford and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis as two fighters he wants to face.
Those are unrealistic picks by Teofimo, who has a wild imagination for inventing things, such as calling himself a two-time undisputed champion. We know who Teofimo doesn’t want to fight. He has no interest in fighting Keyshawn Davis or Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. He’s already ruled out fighting either of those guys.
Teofimo says he wants to fight WBA 140-lb champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, but he doubts it will happen due to Pitbull’s management. A fight would be a dual network contest, and it wouldn’t be big enough for it to be worth it.
Cruz would be taking a risk fighting Teofimo because he would want it to be in New York, and that wouldn’t be ideal.
A Self-Proclaimed Two-Time Undisputed Champion
“Nobody beat Josh Taylor. So, I’m already undisputed as it is, and I did it all at 25. Two-time undisputed champion at that,” said Teofimo Lopez to the media, telling yarns, embellishing his credentials ahead of his fight against Steve Claggett on Saturday night.
It’s interesting to listen to Teofimo proclaiming he’s a two-time undisputed champion when that’s not true. Does he actually believe this, or is he trying to fool impressionable fans by inventing stuff to impress? Hopefully, he will not label himself as a three-division undisputed when he moves up to 147.
“Crawford did it [became two-time undisputed champion]. We’re a decade ahead of the game,” said Teofimo. “That’s what it’s all about. We bring it to the next generation to do it, too. I know I’m going to be the guy that stays on top—the king.”
Teofimo is behind the game because he’s yet to win an undisputed championship, and it doesn’t look like he ever will. He’s too selective in picking his opponents.
For example, he’s showing no interest in fighting WBC 140-lb champion Alberto Puello and says he doesn’t want to fight IBF 147-lb champion Jaron Ennis. There’s no way Teofimo can become undisputed champion with his rejection of fights against champions.
“This fight here on Saturday night makes my path much easier for the next opposition that comes,” said Teofimo to Fighthype, making a cryptic remark about his stay-busy fight against journeyman Claggett.
Beating Claggett won’t open doors for Teofimo to get a bigger fight because this is a low-level opponent. Beating Claggett is fine if Teofimo’s goal is to fight similar fringe-level fighters, but if he’s aiming high, he should be taking on the top contenders like Richardson Hitchins, Arnold Barbosa Jr., Jack Catterall and Jose Ramirez.
“I’m fighting the tough fighters. Nakatani wasn’t a slouch. They even gave him to Lomachenko afterward,” said Teofimo about the fighter Masayoshi Nakatani, whom he had a lot of problems beating, needing to go 12 rounds in 2019. Two fights later, Vasily Lomachenko knocked out Nakatani in the ninth round.
“When I beat Nakatani, he had to take off a whole year because I broke his eyesocket, and I gave him a massive concussion. So maybe it wasn’t the performance that people were looking forward to, but we get the job done, and we win. I maybe my worst critic in the end, but that’s why we’re great,” said Teofimo.
The fact that Teofimo is making a big production about his win over lightweight fringe many years ago is an indication of his lack of quality wins on his resume. Nakatani and Claggett are the norm for Teofimo, as he’s missed out on a lot of great fights due to the way he’s been matched.
Even his best win against a smaller, injured Vasily Lomachenko was questionable. He clearly lost six rounds, which should have made it a draw, but the judges gave him a win.