Two-division world champion Teofimo Lopez recorded one of the most famous upset victories of the last decade and has since gone on to prove that the win was no fluke. Now, as ‘The Takeover’ hopes to secure another mammoth fight, he has made a shocking claim regarding his career earnings thus far.
Lopez dethroned unified lightweight champion and legendary amateur sensation Vasyl Lomachenko back in 2020 with a dominant win that shook the boxing world, bamboozling the supposedly unbeatable Ukrainian with a career-best display.
Although, the shoe was on the other foot in the fight that followed, as Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. sprung the upset on Lopez to put an early end to the New Yorker’s reign and prompt a move up to the super-lightweight division.
After two fights at 140lbs, Lopez earned himself a shot at the poster boy of the division in Scotland’s former undisputed champion Josh Taylor, who entered the bout as an undefeated champion but had vacated three of his four belts.
Once again, Lopez was able to pull off a surprising win, but he has failed to impress in two title defences against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett since – despite claiming unanimous-decision wins on both occasions.
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Now, Lopez craves the big-name opponent that will motivate and bring the best out of him, and the pay day to match, calling for showdowns with the likes of Gervonta Davis, Terence Crawford and Devin Haney.
In an interview with the ‘It Is What It Is’ Podcast, Lopez shockingly revealed that he is yet to receive a million-dollar purse, despite defeating two pound-for-pound contenders.
“Would you take less(money) to fight him(Gervonta Davis)”
Teofimo Lopez: “Ya, I’ve been doing that my last fights. I have yet to even make more than 1 million dollars in every fight. When I fought Loma I came home with 460K after everything(expenses). With Josh Taylor…I came… pic.twitter.com/9V1MaKSMrZ
— Danny (@dantheboxingman) October 1, 2024
“I have been doing that [accepting low offers to make big fights] in my last fights. I have yet to even make more than one million dollars in every fight.
“When I fought Lomachenko during Covid, everyone was talking about how he gave me $800k on top, no – never bid. I came home with about $460k after everything [expenses], fighting the number one pound-for-pound over [Terence] Crawford and Canelo [Alvarez].
“Then, when it came to Josh Taylor, I came home with around $700k – $800k.”
Jose Carlos Ramirez and Arnold Barboza are poised to battle it out for the position as WBO mandatory challenger on the November 16th ‘Riyadh Season’ card in Saudi Arabia, with the victor expected to become Teofimo Lopez’s next opponent for a fight in early 2025.
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