Teofimo Lopez Rejects Matias Fight; What’s Next?

January 9, 2025
1 month
Teofimo Lopez Rejects Matias Fight; What's Next?

Teofimo Lopez’s future with Top Rank is in doubt after reports he rejected an opportunity to fight Subriel Matias.

Lopez holds the WBO Junior Welterweight Title after successfully defending it by beating Steve Claggett in his last fight. However, there has been a persistent stain on Lopez’s career. He has requested huge pay days. However, his commercial value has not lived up to the billing since he failed to sell out his championship fight against Josh Taylor when he picked up the WBO belt in his own backyard. He announced his retirement after the Taylor fight, saying he would not return unless he was paid nine figures. Those comments never really gained traction as Lopez came back.

Lopez’s Issue

Since then, he has been trying to secure the biggest fights. He has repeatedly called out Terence Crawford. But Crawford’s focus is on securing a super middleweight clash with Canelo Alvarez. Lopez added Canelo’s trainer, Eddie Reynoso, to give him an edge and boost his commercial value. Lopez recently requested to know the buyout clause from his Top Rank contract. There is increasing speculation that Lopez could pursue free agency in order to secure the big paydays. But he would face some troubles in doing that. He has created a bad relationship with DAZN, having only boxed there once when he faced George Kambosos Jr.

He suffered an upset defeat, slamming the platform, saying that he would not work with them before returning to ESPN. However, DAZN is the leading broadcaster globally and has a strong relationship with the Saudis. Any move to PBC is not a great idea. As of this moment, the network is not putting on as many big shows, whilst they are also on the verge of losing their biggest star: Gervonta Davis. Tank has said that he will retire in 2025, meaning that the promotion will suffer some setbacks in their numbers. Any deals with other promoters may not be lucrative.

Lopez’s Future

Bob Arum has previously criticized Lopez for complaining about his contractual situation. He reminded the fighter that he had signed a contract extension for the Sandor Martin fight in 2022. Lopez could have gone his separate ways, much like Shakur Stevenson has done. Shakur is now signed with Matchroom and will make a debut against Floyd Schofield Hill on February 22. But Lopez has burnt those bridges with DAZN, meaning that he may now have to consider alternatives after rejecting a Matias fight.

“Teofimo sometimes acts like he has a screw loose. I like the kid, but I can’t figure him out, and he makes no logical sense. He signed an extension with us first with the Jose Pedraza fight that didn’t happen, and then when we did another fight with Sandor Martin, he signed the same extension. So it’s there in black and white. I assume he showed the lawyer the first contract and not the second. Dealing with Teofimo is like dealing with Alice in Wonderland,” Arum said

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