Teofimo Lopez: Mark My Words - I'll Be World Champion By 21

By Steve Kim

This Saturday night from the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, lightweight contender Teofimo Lopez (9-0, 7 KO's) faces William Silva (25-1, 14 KO's) in what will be his first ten rounder.

This fight will serve as the co-main on ESPN before junior welterweight Regis Prograis faces Juan Jose Velasco in his homecoming to 'the Big Easy."

Lopez, who is just 20 years old, believes he will be put on the fast track by Top Rank.

"Basically yes, this is it," he told BoxingScene.com in a recent interview. "We're not here to be world champion in average number of fights, years as well. Four to six years or so? We're cutting that by two years, if anything three. So we're cutting that short.

"Everything happens for a reason, like I said this fight is big for me. It's big for me because of the platform and everything . But definitely I see myself becoming a world champion by 21. Mark my words, mark my words."

The ultra confident Lopez last fought on May 12th at the Madison Square Garden in New York, where he stopped Vitor Freitas in one round on the Vasyl Lomachenko-Jorge Linares undercard.

Lopez (9-0, 7 KOs), a 2016 Olympian for his parents’ native Honduras, has had a meteoric rise through the pro ranks since turning in November 2016. He was regarded as a top prospect in 207 and he's lived up to the billing in 2018.

In February, he shut out the durable Juan Pablo Sanchez over six rounds. And his knockout over Freitas made him become a viral video clip. As Freitas attempted to get up, Lopez did the “Take the L” dance from the popular video game Fortnite.
 
Silva (25-1, 14 KOs), from Sao Paulo, Brazil, has never been knocked out during a nearly 12-year pro career. He has won two straight since his only loss, a 10-round unanimous decision to then-undefeated Felix Verdejo.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.