TEOFIMO LOPEZ : New York State of Mind
Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images
On Saturday night, 2018 Ring “Prospect of the Year” Teofimo Lopez will fight the IBF lightweight champion, Richard Commey. This fight is the co-main event of the Terence Crawford vs. Mean Machine fight.
As everyone expects Bud to run through his opponent in the main event, it is the co main that every hardcore boxing fan is waiting for. Is it too early for Lopez? Is the time now? There are a lot of questions about Teofimo’s first chance at becoming a boxing world champion. There’s also a lot of talk about Teofimo’s father and their intense relationship.
The champion, Richard Commey doesn’t have much to worry about in terms of the media, as it’s mostly Teofimo that the American boxing press cares about. The build up has been very respectful from both fighters. Both seem ready to put everything on the line. In my opinion Richard Commey is a very good boxer, with power in both hands and the desire to prove to the world that he is no stepping stone, he’s someone who can play a major role in the lightweight division.
As a former New Yorker, I am beyond happy to see the rise of the young Teofimo Lopez, who was born in Brooklyn only 22 years ago. What a beautiful feeling to see him walking out in MSG as Sinatra’s “New York, New York” resonates in the Garden. Goosebumps. I left a part of my heart in the Big Apple, and like Teofimo I had to live with the weight and the rage of my parents on my shoulders for many years, that’s why I am rooting with all my heart for him. I would like to tell you a little bit about “The Takeover”.
TEOFIMO LOPEZ SENIOR
There have been a lot of articles written by boxing media about Teofimo Lopez Senior. I am not here to judge anyone’s actions and background, but let me make it short for you - Teofimo Sr. had a very difficult life in which he lost his father and his mother in heartbreaking circumstances quite early in life, and he never really managed to face all his demons or even try to until the day Teofimo Lopez Jr. was born on July 30th, 1997. Whenever Teofimo Sr. talks about his life he says, “You can't take that guilt away, That rage, that anger, it's never going to leave me”.
But after decades of drugs and other addictions, Lopez Sr. said the birth of his son Teofimo was a blessing and a divine intervention. At the age of 9 years old, Teofimo Lopez Jr. was already a young passionate boxer, coached and motivated by his father who then found a new way to live, through his son’s career. Teofimo’s father learned boxing through YouTube videos first. Still a beginner in learning about the sweet science, he created a bond with his prodigiously skilled son, it was just enough to get Teofimo started in his pro career in November 2016.
TEOFIMO LOPEZ JR.
Let’s get to the boxing then, something Teofimo is very good at. He’s an excellent puncher who spent the majority of his young career punishing opponents over their slightest mistake. Whether it was a lazy jab or an uninspired lead hook, Teofimo’s slip and counter game is one to be feared. His left hook floored more than one opponent. At a lower level his opponents all seemed to be shocked by his power. Essentially, the first years of Teofimo’s career consisted of backing up the shit that his father constantly t, that’s when the Takeover started.
On July 2018, Teofimo (9-0) defeated William Silva (25-1) via KO in Round 6 to become the WBC Continental Americas lightweight champion. Stepping up a little bit in competition, he showed to the world what his skillset truly was. He spent Round 1 using his jab well and set up some good 1-2’s, either to the head or the body. He also used his lead shoulder to defend himself, a technique that he hadn’t fully mastered yet, one he was taught through Floyd Mayweather YouTube videos. It only took two minutes before Lopez landed a left hook in the pocket that rocked the Brazilian.
Twenty seconds later, Teofimo landed a big right hook but missed the following left as Silva ducked under. In the next exchange, he feinted the right hook then followed up with a leaping left hook that landed and knocked Silva down. Everybody seems surprised except one person - Teofimo himself, who went back to his corner slowly.
After missing his left hook just before, Lopez throw his right hook and Silva tries to counter it with his own left hook which open his guard just enough for Lopez to land clean that nasty left hook.
Lopez dominated every round of that fight but it’s really in Round 3 that he gave his best effort offensively and defensively. He also made good reads on his opponent and adapted well. Silva likes that 1-1-2 combo as he steps on his left foot, and at first the New Yorker simply used his lead shoulder to block the jab and moved his upper body to slip the rear hand. Next time Silva threw the 1-2, Teofimo avoided the jab and as Silva stepped on his left he countered him with a short powerful right hook that tagged the Brazilian badly, he stepped right into it.
In response to that same lead, Teo found different counters very easily. Just before the end of that Round 3, Silva went back to the 1-1-2. Lopez parried the first jab with his right hand, avoided the second jab (still using the shoulder roll) and slipped the right hand, but this time he left his right hand low as he slipped in order to counter the Brazilian with a nice clean uppercut.
Teofimo doesn’t like fighting on the inside, he spent most of the fight bouncing on his feet behind his jab and looking for devastating counters. But he can lead if necessary, his own 1-2 lands at a good percentage and he’s not afraid to shift if more distance needs to be covered. He possesses power in both hands so this works well for him. Lopez is also a very creative puncher and doesn’t run out of ideas, which make him very unpredictable. He rarely gets countered clean, even when he enters with wide punches (stepping left hook with a big right hook behind it) his head is always out of the center line.
In the Round 5, Lopez started going to the body more often. the damage to Silva’s face made the Brazilian prioritize protecting his face over his body, and Teofimo made the best of it. He slipped Silva’s jab and landed some beautiful counters to the body. Even if he wasn’t consistent with it throughout this fight, it’s more than fair to claim that Teofimo can become a scary body puncher.
After that fight, Teofimo won his next 3 fights all by KO - including a body shot knockout against Edis Tatli. Given all of the hype created by his father’s controversial quotes about Lomachenko, among other boxers, combined with Teofimo’s highlight reel, Lopez Jr. seemed destined to become a huge star. That was, until this summer of 2019.
THE FAMILY
On July 2019, Teofimo faced the undefeated Japanese lightweight champion Mashayoshi Nakatani (18-0). Even though the New Yorker won by unanimous decision, he believed his performance was “horrible”. It wasn’t horrible, his opponent was a difficult match up for the young puncher, but something did seemed off in Lopez. He struggled to get to 135 lbs and didn’t seemed to have the same energy he showed in the past.
In my opinion he still fought well against the tough Japanese athlete, whose jab was a problem for Lopez, but never seemed to get into his rhythm. After four difficult rounds, Teofimo started to land solid shots that got Nakatani to check himself a little bit and respect Teofimo’s counters (especially Teofimo’s left hook). The criticism towards Lopez and his entourage was somewhat justified but nobody mentioned Lopez’s solid defense in that fight where his shoulder roll and sense of anticipation seemed to have improved quite a lot.
As soon as Teofimo managed to block Mashayoshi’s lead hand and counter with his left hook he got the Japanese to respect his power and round by round he felt better in the ring. As always, as soon as his opponent circled towards his right hand when throwing the jab, the counter from Lopez landed big. Here Lopez added his beautiful jumping left hook behind the right hand and hurt the Japanese. Teofimo managed to finish the fight strong and didn’t show any sign of fatigue in the later rounds.
A month after this fight, Teo and his wife Cynthia spend some well deserved holiday time, far away from New York, in Greece. It was on their way back to New York that Lopez Jr. started to feel stressed again as during the flight back he started to feel bad and cried. “I don’t want to go back home”. Teofimo’s family does not approve of Cynthia as his wife and Teofimo started to struggle to carry his father’s demons. It was if he had to live both for himself and for his father. Lot of boxers through history achieved great things with the unconditional support of their entourage, but many other prospect failed due to the pressure. Teo himself admit that he was so focused on the mess that is his family that he had trouble focusing on his fight against the Japanese in July.
After this anxiety crisis, his wife helped him getting though that as he went to see a therapist that, according to the young couple, helped him a lot to acknowledge the pain and the weight he has to carry. Lopez Jr also said that he will not be fighting until those troubles are behind him. We can only hope for him that tonight his focus will be completely turned toward the dangerous IBF champion Richard Commey. Teofimo Lopez’s story is far from over, it’s only the start but it will be very important to follow the next steps of his career where the pressure and the stress will only keep growing and how Teofimo as its own person will deal with it.
If he can make it here in New York tonight, he can make it anywhere.