NEWEST UNDISPUTED CHAMP DEMANDS RESPECT
Teofimo Lopez had some pointed words for his many doubters late Saturday night after overcoming long odds to upset Vasiliy Lomachenko and unify the lightweight division.
The charismatic American’s told-you-so reproach came on the heels of a technically brilliant performance belying his 23 years and unveiled a considerable boxing acumen well beyond the raw power on which Lopez had leaned in previous fights.
“Give me my damn respect,” said the Brooklyn native, nattily attired in a dark suit, white dress shirt and tie during a post-fight news conference at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
The result secured Lopez plenty while vaulting him to the upper reaches of the sport in the company of such luminaries as Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford and Tyson Fury. It also allows Lopez to dictate terms of his next bout in becoming the first boxer in the four-belt era to unify at 135 pounds.
In winning by judge’s scores of 119-109, 117-113 and 116-112, Lopez (16-0, 12 knockouts) retained his International Boxing Federation title and wrested Lomachenko’s World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council “franchise” champi
onships.
Lopez also settled what he has called personal issues with Lomachenko, 32, dating from several years ago when his father and head trainer, Teofimo Sr., exchanged words with the Ukrainian southpaw, who is widely regarded among the top pound-for-pound fighters of his generation.
The heated confrontation compelled Lopez Sr. to promise that his son would knock Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) off his perch in due time.
Lomachenko fired back verbal barbs of his own in the weeks leading to the fight, suggesting Lopez’s bluster would lead to his undoing once the two stepped into the ring for
one of the more anticipated showdowns in recent memory.
“That’s a true champion right there,” the younger Lopez said. “Loma was a hell of a fighter. He knows what he’s doing, but his time is over. I told you guys. I’m smart when I’m in there. I’m going to take bumps and bruises. I mean that’s part of it, so I dig down deep in those last rounds for a reason.”
After commanding the center of the ring over the first half of the fight, Lopez withstood a valiant comeback in the middle rounds from Lomachenko, who, at a significant reach disadvantage, began getting inside to land body blows and connecting with combinations to the head.
Fighting in a virtually empty arena because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lopez sealed the outcome with a f lourish in the 12th round despite absorbing a shot that opened a nasty gash above his right eye in the closing seconds requiring stitches in the locker room.
“My son was the better man,” Lopez Sr. said with a championship belt slung over his left shoulder.
“We did something that everybody thought we couldn’t do. We outboxed him. We gave him a clinic, you know, I’m just so glad, man, that everything that I said came into existence.”
The contract for the fight promoted by Top Rank and broadcast on ESPN did not include a rematch clause, per Lomachenko’s terms as the threebelt champion, thus leaving the two-time Olympic gold medalist at the mercy of Lopez and his team as to whether they would face one another again.
Lopez dismissed any notion of a rematch, citing a victory that left no doubt about his standing as the superior fighter. He outlanded Lomachenko 183-141, according to statistics from CompuBox, and connected on 148 power punches, at a rate of 41 percent.
Lopez Sr. is pushing for his son to move up to 140 pounds, though Lopez Jr. mentioned Devin Haney as a potential opponent at 135.