Teofimo Lopez’s Top Rank Future In Doubt After Signing New Advisory Deal

Teofimo Lopez’s Top Rank future is in doubt after he signed a new advisory deal.
Reports indicate he has inked a deal with Keith Connolly and Mike Borao. The agreement was made with the aim of securing Lopez the biggest fights this year. He has often been maligned for not getting the big paydays that he is demanding despite having an impressive resume. Lopez has wins over Vasiliy Lomachenko, Josh Taylor and Richard Commey. Those big victories have made him a two-weight, two-time lineal champion. His only loss has come against George Kambosos Jr. But after beating Steve Claggett, the WBO Junior Welterweight Champion’s next fight has not become clearer.
Lopez’s Struggles
He has called out Terence Crawford. But Bud is reportedly set to face Canelo in September. Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are now tied up with opponents. Garcia will box Rolando Romero in May on Ring Magazine’s first card via the Saudis. Haney will fight against Jose Ramirez on the undercard.
Teo missed out on the chance to appear on that card, as his contractual situation is not helping. Lopez was offered the Subriel Matias fight. But he rejected it after his counter offer was denied. Lopez wanted a bigger guarantee after Top Rank had doubts it would do well on PPV. While Top Rank justified their offer, saying it was the most Lopez had been offered, Teo was not happy.
“If they wanted to promote it in the West Coast, if he’s Puerto Rican, shouldn’t he be in the East Coast in New York? Secondly, it was on pay-per-view. I’m not fine with pay-per-view if it’s not with the right dance partner. Listen, if Subriel Matías was really worthy of that type of competition then Matchroom, Eddie Hearn would’ve still kept him.
“They didn’t even believe it would pass that 100,000 threshold,” Lopez said. “So, why are we doing it on pay-per-view? That’s from Bob Arum himself, the chairman. If you go on BoxingScene he said it’s not pay-per-view worthy. So, why are we still making the fight pay-per-view? They’re trying to [mess] my life up. Literally, my career,” Lopez said
Lopez’s Future
Now, he could look elsewhere.
“Teofimo Lopez tells ESPN he signed a multi-year advisory deal with Mike Borao and Keith Connolly. “I am going to focus on fighting the best and let Mike, Keith, and my father focus on everything else. Expect big fights from me in 2025 and beyond. This is the Takeover. Period,” Mike Coppinger
The move also aligns with Lopez’s decision to hire Canelo’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso. Teo has been criticized for not being able to box on the back foot. Reynoso is known for implementing this as Canelo has become a master of it. And with changes inside and outside of the ring, fans may well see the best of Lopez. But he must get those big fights over the line on his terms before he in the mindset to deliver.
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