His record now stands at 19 victories—13 won via knockout—and 1 defeat.
Teofimo Lopez is one of the best boxers today, no doubt. He proved it once again on Sunday in Madison Square Garden by conclusively defeating highly touted Scottish fighter Josh Taylor for the WBO junior welterweight crown.
Aside from being a great fighter, Lopez has a penchant for saying wild stuff as well. He’s publicly dissed respected boxing champions in Andre Ward and Timothy Bradley, who have both become fight commentators after retiring. He’s also picked fights against networks, Top Rank promotions, and even his own dad.
The struggles in the boxer's personal life also extended to his marital relationship. A recent report from Daily Mail indicated that Lopez is now focused on winning custody of his son from his estranged wife.
And in a post-fight media scrum on Sunday, the hard-hitting Brooklyn native rambled about the impact of his personal struggles to his boxing.
“I would always go back to my ex-wife. And that always gave me more issues, more problems,” Lopez confessed. "And it was taking away from my boxing."
Now, he seems ready to turn the page of his book. After all, he just scored what is arguably his biggest triumph to date.
“Boxing is my wife. I married it at 17 years young. That’s my first wife and I can’t disrespect my love for it.”
By the end of the interview, however, Teofimo started going on a rant about retiring.
“I might retire after this fight,” the 25-year-old slugger suddenly declared.
So, is he retiring for real, or is it just a ploy? From what the two-division champ said next, the latter is likely what it’s all about.
“I’m going to retire. I’m not getting paid enough. A million dollars? Get the f*** out of here.”
(GM)