Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez 16-0 (12) doesn’t expect to take on undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh ‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor 18-0 (13) any time soon.
The 23-year-old Lopez from Brooklyn, New York, defeated pound-for-pound level fighter Vasiliy Lomachenko 14-2 (10) on points in October last year to unify all the major belts at 135-pounds. He is in the final weeks of his preparation to face IBF mandatory contender George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 19-0 (10) at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida on June 19.
Scottish southpaw Taylor, 30, defeated previously unbeaten Jose Ramirez 26-1 (17) by unanimous decision at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas Nevada on Saturday night to unify the WBA, IBF, WBC and WBO belts. The 28-year-old Mexican American was down twice and lost by scores of 114-112 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Now that Taylor has effectively cleaned out the 140-pound weight division the question is whether he waits around for Lopez to move up or if he chooses to stalk bigger game at welterweight.
Lopez says he knows the answer.
“I’ve been talking about it,” Lopez said during a Triller media conference. “Let’s make it happen, yo. He’s talking about moving up to 147, which I figured.
“They scared, man. They all scared. That’s how I look at it, man. They know, man. I’m too fast, I’m too smart, I’m too sharp and I’m too strong. You know, he’d rather go up at 147 because he’ll beat a lot of guys, he’ll be quicker on his feet and he’ll be able to handle himself more at 147.
“I ain’t stupid, I see how the game go. But eventually, they’re going to have to feel that pressure and I’m going to come at them too. Loma was the most technical fighter and I outboxed him. What does Josh Taylor bring to the table? He brings my belts, that’s all he does.”
There has been talk of Taylor moving up in weight to face promotional stablemate and WBO champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 37-0 (28) in his next fight.
If he chooses to remain at 140-pounds he will need to face WBO mandatory contender Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall 26-0 (13) who stepped aside to allow the Ramirez unification bout to happen.
“Ya’ll don’t smell it, but I do. I smell fear in all of those guys. I can see it in their face, and I can see it in their teams. They feel that pressure. I’m young, but I’m ready,” Lopez continued.
“Yeah, he’s over here saying I’ve got unfinished business at 135 when in reality I cleaned up the whole division.
“I see it like this. I can’t go out with Kambosos and move up to 140. Even if I did, that would be with Taylor, but he has his mandatory with this guy [Jack] Catterall and that’s it. I’ve got to finish with somebody at 135 clean.”
