Ahead of his fight with Mexican Pedro Campa in Las Vegas this weekend, Teofimo Lopez says that he will ‘dissect’ all the top lightweights when the time comes.
Lopez, set to make his 140lbs debut, spoke to FightHype.com as he prepares to take centre stage once more. Despite tackling a new weight class, the question of fights with big names from his former division still linger.
The Brooklyn-based former unified lightweight champion remains as confident and audacious as he always has been.
“Devin [Haney] has about five, six flaws. Tank [Davis] has about three, four. Ryan [Garcia] has about ten. It’s too many for him. Every time he punches, he puts his chin up. I’m going to dissect all these boys when the time comes.”
Some fans may argue that the time has come. In fact, with ‘The Takeover’ up a weight now, it’s been and gone.
In the future though, the prospect of Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta Davis campaigning at super lightweight alongside Lopez remains strong. When, or rather if, these fights happen, he says he has one thing that will be key to victory.
“Timing beats everything. Timing beats speed. Timing beats power. Timing even beats ring IQ.”
The Brooklyn native, now 25, hasn’t let a loss to George Kambosos Jr dent his bombastic self-praise. It was in that fight he lost the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring belts he had previously taken from Vasily Lomachenko.
He believes that the blemish on his record is what boxing is all about.
“This is what’s supposed to happen. All these guys are trying to keep their 0 [0 losses] to be like Floyd and make a hundred [million.]
I’m thankful that I’m going to be the one to show them that you can make all that and more just as long as you stay steady on the course.”
Word of Lopez’ claims got around. Current Undisputed Lightweight Champion, Haney, caught the comments and took to social media. He kept his response short and sweet, first tweeting:
“The weight cut got his ass delirious…”,
The weight cut got his ass delirious… 🤣🫣 https://t.co/YHQLygYToZ
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) August 11, 2022
followed by:
“Teo hasn’t changed… he’s still delusional he might [be] worse…”
The animosity there paints an intriguing picture but talk of future fights must be put on ice. Lopez faces a tough test in Campa this weekend at Resorts World Las Vegas. UK fans can tune in live on Sky Sports.