Teofimo Lopez Sr has blamed Matchroom Boxing for his son’s split decision loss to George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Teofimo Lopez Jr 16-1 (12) lost his undisputed lightweight championship to 28-year-old Australian Kambosos 20-0 (10) by scores of 115-112, 115-111 and 113-114. Both boxers were on the deck, Lopez in the first and Kambosos in the 10th.
After the fight the 23-year-old Lopez boldly claimed he won 10 of the 12 rounds. The statement drew a chorus of boos from the pro-Lopez crowd.
Lopez Sr has similarly claimed his son dominated the fight as their team seeks to rationalise the surprise loss.
According to Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, he has found himself in the crosshairs of the former undisputed champion’s father and trainer.
“I feel for him, I know his dad seems to want to blame me for the fact that he lost,” Hearn told Boxing Social.
“It sort of comes with the territory I guess, but he deserves a lot of credit because he showed a lot of heart as well.
“About a week ago it was the best thing he [Lopez] ever done coming to DAZN. All of a sudden he lost a decision that everybody thought he lost and it was my fault and DAZN’s fault.
“You can’t reason with someone like that. He called me a couple of times and he messaged me saying he can’t believe what I did.
“I said ‘listen, we treated you with unbelievable respect’. I love Teofimo, I love his dad, good people. But you have to move away from delusion.”
After the fight Lopez Sr blamed weight drain for the loss and indicated his son would immediately move up to the junior welterweight division. The loose plan if for Lopez Jr to have one fight before challenging Josh Taylor 18-0 (13) for the undisputed championship.
Taylor has flagged his own desire to move up in weight after his mandatory title defence against Jack Catterall in Glasgow, Scotland in February.
Meanwhile, Lopez Jr has posted a throwback picture of himself and his father to social media along with a cryptic caption that read: “We in this together! Until the wheels fall off.”
Hearn seems to back that sentiment.
“He has to lead his son and if Teofimo Sr is saying that sort of stuff, how do you expect your son to learn and reflect on what happened,” he said.
“You got beat, it’s no disgrace. Take it on the chin, come again. You’re an amazing fighter, he’ll be back and become a world champion again.
“If you’re listening to that, and that’s the same thing for the corner work, if you’re listening to delusion or bad instructions, how do you expect to change or adapt.
“Just read, look at polls look at anyone who watched the fight. It was a good fight, it was a close fight. Virtually everyone had Kambosos winning that fight. Take it on the chin, move on and dust yourself down.”
