Teofimo Lopez has boldly stated that he would knock out a fellow world champion in just four rounds, as ‘The Takeover’ seeks to live true to his nickname and unify the super-lightweight division.
Lopez lost his lightweight titles to George Kambosos Jr back in 2021 but has gone 3-0 since making the jump to 140lbs, including a WBO world title win over long-time poster boy of the division, Josh Taylor, earlier this year.
Now, Lopez has been linked to a showdown with pay-per-view star Ryan Garcia but has previously revealed his interest in taking on the other champions in the division, such as WBA titleholder Rolando Romero.
Regis Prograis (WBC) and Subriel Matias (IBF) hold the other belts and, with Romero poised to face the winner of Davies-Barroso and Prograis due to fight Devin Haney this weekend, it seems Lopez could be eyeing Puerto-Rican power-puncher Matias.
‘El Orgullo de Maternillo’, or ‘The Pride of Maternillo’ in English, is 20-1 with all twenty of those wins coming by way of knockout, including impressive stoppages of both Jeremias Ponce and Shohjahon Ergashev this year. However, Lopez told ‘The Porter Way Podcast’ that he believes he would stop Matias within four rounds.
“You can’t say that he [Matias] is a nobody, he is the IBF World Champion in my division.
“To be honest [I haven’t been paying attention to him], I’ve been paying attention to what more can I do outside of just my sport, but then also bringing it back in, so I’m not really focussed on anyone, my biggest test is myself. As long as I am happy and my mind is straight and I’m focussed like always, he would probably go out in four [rounds].”
Alternatively, Lopez could face the winner of Prograis-Haney, which takes place this Saturday night on DAZN.