Teofimo Lopez Clarifies His Retirement Plans
Teofimo Lopez has announced his retirement from the sport of boxing following his win over Josh Taylor to become a two-division champion.
Lopez comprehensively beat Taylor to claim the WBO super-lightweight title, as he won a wide unanimous decision: 115-113, 115-113 and 117-111.
And with that win, Lopez opened up the chance to have a unification bout with Rolando Romero, Subriel Matias or Regis Prograis.
Not only that but with a belt to his name the calls for a fight with Devin Haney gained traction as the latter considers moving up to 140 lbs.
And yet, Lopez announced his retirement first on his Instagram, much to the shock of everyone.
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“I’m going to be announcing my retirement to the sport of boxing. Blood, sweat and tears, I’ve done for the sport. At a young age, at 25 years young, and the first male really to become a two-time undisputed world champion in a four-belt era,” Lopez
Despite this being the case, there is a chance that Lopez is using his leverage to secure a bigger purse.
He expanded on the possibility of whether he would ever return on the ‘The Porter Way’ Podcast.
And as part of that process, the ‘Takeover’ stated that his value was not being reflected in the purses he was being given.
“I think the only way you get Teo back is a nine-figure contract deal. Because I’ve made ESPN over a $100 million.
“I’m still getting paid a million dollars to fight while all these other fighters have not even done a quarter of what I’ve done and accomplished in the sport, they’re getting eight, 10, 12, 15 million dollars.
“So obviously I’m the black sheep of the industry and they’re really hurting me on that end. I really want to fix the sport of the boxing world and the corruption that’s going on,” Lopez
Not only that, but Lopez did admit that his focus for now is to deal with his divorce battle in court as he battles personal issues.
This was evident in his pre-fight comments when he vowed to kill Taylor in the ring and refused to backtrack on those comments.
But once the fight was done, Lopez and Taylor did reconcile. With that being said, fighters have retired and made comebacks in the past, with Floyd Mayweather Jr. being the prime example who used this to great effect to secure mega pay days.
And if Lopez continues to beat the best in the division, then there is no reason why the ‘Takeover’ cannot command more going forward.
But in order for him to do so, he needs to remain active as he has fought three times in the last 10 months. Therefore, retiring now may not be the best course of action.
Social Media Reaction
He deserves better money for sure Now, but walking away from the sport when your in your Prime is not gonna make you any Richer!
— Keith Kolich (@KeithKolich) June 13, 2023
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