Teofimo Lopez Rejected Low-Paying Offer To Fight Ryan Garcia

The WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez rejected an offer to face Ryan Garcia, complaining that the purse was not big enough.

Lopez arguably has one of the best fighter resumes around. And his accomplishments back that up. Wins over Josh Taylor and Vasiliy Lomachenko made the ‘Takeover’ a two-weight and two-time lineal champion at the age of just 26.

Although that may have been the case, the fighter has struggled to sell out big venues. Lopez’s personality has often divided the boxing community. He infamously claimed that he would take Taylor’s life in the ring. Despite the huge criticism that came his way, Lopez refused to apologise until the final bell once he had gotten the victory.

Therefore, when it comes to making fights, Lopez has been seen as the B-side against the bigger names, who have sold more tickets. Ryan Garcia had shown in his fight against Gervonta Davis that he was capable of bringing in the casual boxing fans. The fight sold more than 1.2 million PPVs, as well as bringing in the highest gate of 2023 at $22 million.

And in the process of doing so, Garcia made $30 million. A large part of that has been helped by Garcia’s Instagram following, which is over 10 million. Nevertheless, Lopez felt he had been hard done by when it came to the offer, which is why he rejected it. The offer was part of Oscar De La Hoya’s wider plans of having a Garcia-Lopez fight on Super Bowl Weekend. But as of now, that appears unlikely.

Lopez Vs. Garcia

“When you’re the best, when you are the guy, when you bring major sponsors, endorsements, big major business deals, when you offer me a 1.5 [million dollars] stake in the piece—f–k you. So yeah I declined the offer. What’s next for me is world wide takeover, that’s what’s next. I want to go to Italy, I want to take it to other places in different ways. I got a lot of fan base in Africa, too, I want to go out there. My whole thing is taking it global because nobody else is going to help me in the boxing game no more,” Lopez said

Duarte On Garcia

But before that can even happen, Garcia must overcome Oscar Duarte on December 2nd, 2023. The Mexican has stopped his last 11 opponents, showing that he is ready to put on a show. Duarte is known for being a heavy-handed fighter, with the ability to pack a punch in both hands.

At the same time, Garcia’s ability to take a shot was questioned in the Davis loss even if he was fighting at a catchweight of 136 pounds that included a ten-pound rehydration clause. With that being said, Duarte was ready to cause an upset.

“I’m very hungry. I have great managers. I have their support, and I’m ready to win. I’m very hungry. I’ve been in boxing for fifteen years, and I want to take advantage of this. I’m going to do my best. The ones that are going to come out victorious are the fans, and I’m going to do my best, and I’m ready to become champion…I’m not going to look for the knockout because it’s going to come. I’m just going to do my job from round one,” Duarte said

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