Norman Jr. Teofim: “Come to 147 and try to take my belt”

WBO welterweight Brian Norman Jr has taken to social media to hit out at fellow fighter Teofimo Lopez, saying he doesn’t want a unification fight with IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis when he has the chance to face him in November.

Norman Jr’s Callout

Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) told Theofim that he “they regret the money” and trying to keep his career alive by saying “Crazy” so people would want to watch his fights. Fans “still don’t care” to see him. Norman Jr. then dared Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) to move up to 147 to try and claim his WBO belt.

Lopez’s popularity plummeted from its peak four years ago when he defeated the injured, one-armed Vasily Lomachenko by unanimous decision in 12 rounds on October 17, 2020. The two have done nothing since then, beating lesser fighters and facing worse and worse opposition to the point where fans no longer mention him.

Theo hasn’t been the same fighter since his match against Loma, and some fans believe he’s already washed up at 27. The fight with Lomachenko got the best out of Theofi, leaving him a shell that was lost to George Kambosos Jr., who got controversial decision wins over Sandor Martin and Jemaine Ortiz.

Lately, Teofimo has taken to calling out Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford, who are completely out of his league. Those are fights where he has no chance of winning, but even fewer of those matches happen.

If Lopez wanted to reinvent himself and be taken seriously by fans again, he would have taken Norman Jr. his offer to fight for his WBO light heavyweight belt. Winning that title would give Teofim the bargaining chip to fight Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs), who for some reason is fixated on winning all the welterweight titles. I

The money Lopez would make fighting Norman Jr. it won’t be huge, but he should see this fight as an investment in his future. If he can win that title, it would open the door to fights against Boots and possibly some other top welterweights, like Conor Benn.

You didn’t want to fight Boots when you had the chance. All because of $$$$… I fought Lomachenko, #1 P4P, and came home with less than $500k. You don’t believe in YOURSELF AND THAT’S ALL A FIGHTER NEEDS TO WIN, but hey, good luck setting up @OfficialBNorman #Boxing

— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) December 19, 2024