Via Max Schramm: Bob Arum plans to go up against Teofimo Lopez against Jose Pedraza in his first bout at the age of 140 when he moves up to the weight division in the middle of this year.
Teofimo needs to try to recover from a crushing loss to underdog George Kambosos Jr. on November 27th.
Arum may want to think twice before fighting Teofimo against Jose Pedraza or Montana Love as he may not like what he discovers about his fighter.
Those guys can really fight, and they can take a punch. If Teofimo let loose after three to six rounds with those guys, he would lose again.
Is Teofimo a one-of-a-kind wonder?
If Teofimo cannot return to the form he showed in his huge win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020, one would have to conclude that he is yet another example of a boxer. one-hit-wonder. Kambosos could soon join that club as he defends his undisputed title against Devin Haney in the coming months.
Unfortunately for Top Rated, it’s likely Teofimo’s career will never be the same, but not because of his injury. Instead, he was never a great fighter from the start, and a big part of his success was having a size advantage over his lighter opponents at 135- lb.
Some would say that Teofimo is a heavyweight bully when he’s maneuvering at lightweight, as he’ll drop from almost 160 to 135 fighting opponents smaller than himself.
Now that Teofimo can no longer fight at 135, he won’t have much of a scale advantage against his opponent once he starts fighting at 140.
Arum said that before scheduling undisputed former lightweight champion Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs), he will ask for a physical at the Cleveland Clinic so he can be screened. medical.
When Teofimo was eliminated, Arum said that he wanted to fight him with ‘Sniper’ Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs) in his first lightweight bout. Pedraza, 32, will play former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) next month on February 5 on ESPN at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.
Arum says, win or lose, he wants Pedraza to face Teofimo in the next match. As long as former two-division world champion Pedraza is not injured in the match against Ramirez, he will be available to face Teofimo in June.
Teofimo is hard to match
“He will rise to 140, and Jose Pedraza could be a good opponent for Teofimo,” Bob Arum told Fighthub about Teofimo’s first fight in the lightweight division.
Of course, Teofimo could always veto Pedraza’s choice if he wasn’t comfortable with his opponent’s choice. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants Teofimo to take on Montana Love (17-0-1, 9 KOs).
If Teofimo loses to Pedraza or looks terrible in victory, Arum will need to decide what to do with him. Teofimo is too big to go back to 135-lb, and if he can’t beat someone like Pedraza, it won’t do him any good as Arum pits him against tougher guys with more power.
Teofimo’s asthma problem could limit how well he can fight and he won’t succeed if he can only fight at full strength for two to six innings.
During Teofimo’s battle with Kambosos, he only had the energy left to fight hard in the second and tenth rounds. He won both of those innings, but struggled in the other innings.
When Teofimo played against Vasily Lomachenko in October 2020, he faded after 6 rounds and lost 5 of the last 6 rounds.
Some boxing fans believe Lomachenko deserves a draw because he has won at least one of the first six innings and five of the last six.
The important thing to note about this fight is how Teofimo let loose after just six rounds and looked miserable in the second half.
Teofimo, 25, has esophageal health issues that he experienced while losing weight to defend his title against George Kambosos Jr. on November 27th.
According to reports, Teofimo may have died in battle, and he shouldn’t have competed in his state at the time.
Hearn wants Teofimo to fight Montana Love
“Perhaps the time has come [for Teofimo] to switch to 140 lbs, and I’ve got the right guy for you. Montana ‘Too Pretty’ Love,” Eddie Hearn told DAZN.
“He just lit the MGM Grand, a week after Teofimo Lopez played Kambosos. So if you [Teofimo] Welcome to 140 lbs., Montana is waiting for you, Teo. Hearn said.
Teofimo will show a lot of courage if he agrees to fight Montana because it won’t be an easy fight for him, but it will be a winnable battle.
Love doesn’t possess the same kind of strength as Teofimo, and he won’t be able to stand and plunge. However, it was a tough fight for Teofimo to make, after his defeat to Kambosos.
If Teofimo has problems with his stamina against Love, he will likely be beaten worse than he did in the previous contest against Kambosos.
Love is a better fighter than Kambosos and is capable of knocking out Teofimo if he loses after two rounds.
