Teofimo Lopez is a 24-year-old lightweight boxer. He was not a mainstream name in the world of boxing till his last fight. Lopez fought one of the most feared fighters ‘pound for pound’, Vasiliy Lomachenko. Despite Lopez, rapid strides, most critics thought the fight against Lomachenko is a different ballgame altogether.
Lopez proved the critics wrong as he out-pointed the Ukrainian fighter to win the fight via decision. The fight was not a walk in the park for Teo as Lomachenko made a hail-Mary attempt to make a comeback in the fight and succeeded to a certain extent. It showed the determination of the 24-year to overcome adversity.
Following the life-changing title unification fight, Lopez was scheduled to fight George Kambosos as his first title defence. Lopez was promoted by Bob Arum and fought under Top Rank boxing at the time. A dispute between the promoter and the fighter led the fight into a purse bidding. ‘Triller’ won the bidding as they were willing to shell out an insane amount to put up the fight under their banner.
However, that never materialized as the fight was pushed back numerous times. From COVID related issues to injury to the fighters, the showdown was pushed back due to various reasons. Finally, after being unable to put the fight on, Triller backed out of the contract and Eddie Hearn’s Match Room Boxing came in charge by default as they were the second-highest bidder. Ahead of their fight, let’s take a look at Teofimo Lopez’s career before he turned Pro.
Teofimo Lopez fought in Olympics as an Amateur
Usually, fighters have an extensive amateur career before they turn Pro. Fighters such as Floyd Mayweather and Vasiliy Lomachenko are just as equally experienced in their amateur career as they are in their Pro one. Teofimo Lopez was no exception to this rule as he has had 170 fights as an amateur.
In 170 reported amateur fights, Lopez has managed to win 150 fights and has lost 20. The fighter had an acclaimed amateur career. He has won the first medal of his career in 2014’s US National Youth Championships. Lopez was the bronze medalist in that competition.
In the same year, Teofimo Lopez participated in the prestigious US National Golden Gloves. It was not a successful campaign for Lopez as he was beaten by Javar Jones. However, he made a strong comeback the following year and won the gold medal in the same competition by beating Jamaine Ortiz.
Teo was an Olympic hopeful for the United States of America in 2016 for the 60 kg division. But he did not make it to the biggest stage of them all as Carlos Balderas was already picked. Hence, he attended the trial for Honduras. Lopez was the top seed for the country and represented Honduras in the 2016 summer Olympics.