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Teofimo Lopez has reportedly turned down a final offer from his Top Rank promoters to defend his title against Subriel Matias on March 15th at the ESPN PPV in Las Vegas.
According to Keith Idek, Top Rank’s offer to WBO light heavyweight champion Teofim (21-1, 13 KOs) for a bout against former IBF 140lb belt holder Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) was above his “contract minimum. ” Theo remains unyielding, his own worst enemy, as his career plummets.
It’s unclear what kind of money Lopez, 27, was expecting for the Matias fight, but whatever it was, Top Rank wasn’t offering it. That would be risky for Theo as he has not played well in the last four years. From 2021, Theo sounded and looked like a complete suitcase.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lopez has ALWAYS struggled with fighters under pressure throughout his nine-year professional career, and he might fall apart against the hard-nosed Matthias.
Subriel’s power would be pure 100% hell for Theophilus, and maybe it is mentally broken as he did in his 12-round split decision loss to George Kambossos Jr. in 2021.
Are Lopez’s demands too high?
“Teofimo Lopez turned down Top Rank’s latest offer, “well above his contract minimum,” I’m told, before the deadline late last night for a WBO 140-pound title fight against Subriel Matias. Lopez and Matias would fight in the main event of the ESPN PPV on March 15 in Las Vegas,” said Keith Idec on Ks.
Top Rank must have been upset about Lopez’s recent bout against journeyman Steve Clagett (39-8-2, 22 KOs) last June 29. Teofimo absorbed plenty of punishment from Clagett, ending up with a badly swollen face in the process of winning a tougher-than-expected 12-round unanimous decision.
Top Rank is believed to have fed Theo against Clagett as a confidence booster following his controversial win over Jamaine Ortiz in his previous fight on February 8 last year.
Many boxing fans believe that the judges gave Teofim the decision in that fight, and they felt that Jamaine was robbed. I watched the fight and Ortiz won 9-3 and it wasn’t even close. He dominated Lopez even more than Kambosos.
Some believe Teofim’s career highlight, a narrow 12-round majority decision over Vassily Lomachenko in November 2020, destroyed him as a fighter, leaving him a struggling fighter unable to fight at the levels he previously displayed. Lomachenko did something to Theo and he’s been mediocre ever since. What did Loma do to him in that fight to turn him into what he became?
