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Teofimo Lopez warns Gervonta Davis not to overprice himself: 'You are not Mayweather; I'm the A-side'
Fresh off an upset of Vasiliy Lomachenko to unify lightweight titles that announced him as a future pound-for-pound star of the sport, unbeaten Teofimo Lopez isn't afraid to let the world know he's feeling himself just a bit.
"Trust me, I've got smiles everywhere," Lopez told "Morning Kombat" on Monday. "I'm happy. Just the fact that I can say, 'Go f--- yourself,' or anything like that, it's amazing."
The 23-year-old Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) outboxed and bullied the smaller Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) in October. He's hoping to return in March or April and said he's in talks with New York's Madison Square Garden, Hard Rock Stadium outside of Miami and the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as possible venues provided at least a portion of each venue's capacity can be filled with fans amid the pandemic.
Although Lopez sees an eventual move up to boxing's money division of welterweight, he acknowledges there are enough big names he hasn't yet fought at lightweight to give him motivation to keep making 135 pounds despite his body starting to outgrow it.
But whether his next big fight comes against fellow rising stars Gervonta "Tank" Davis, Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia, the native of Brooklyn, New York, has a trio of messages to share first. Actually, it's more like a question -- "what can they bring to the table for me?" And demands that you lower your price to understand there's only one A-side.
"[Fighting them next] is a possibility, it's just that they can't overprice themselves," Lopez said. "I didn't get what I would've gotten had this COVID not hit. I had to take a pay cut and I'm sure Loma did as well. Yes, money applies to everything and this is our career. We are putting everything on the line and we are jeopardizing that we might have to start from ground zero again if any of us loses.
"Yes, we can make a big fight happen but everybody needs to stop thinking about the business aspects as of right now. Yes, it's a business but Tank, you're not [Floyd] 'Money' Mayweather and you will never be 'Money' Mayweather unless you fight oppositions and let your ego go. The same applies for Devin Haney and the same applies for Ryan Garcia. These guys are trying to be 'Money' Mayweather but you have to be 'Pretty Boy' first. You have to work your way up."
Lopez's reference is to Mayweather, the retired PPV king and current promoter of Davis, who built his name first in the lower weight classes under the nickname "Pretty Boy" and took on all comers to gain critical respect. Once that was established, he moved up to welterweight and called his own shots under the moniker of "Money," a villainous alter ego who produced record-breaking numbers at the box office.
Fresh off an upset of Vasiliy Lomachenko to unify lightweight titles that announced him as a future pound-for-pound star of the sport, unbeaten Teofimo Lopez isn't afraid to let the world know he's feeling himself just a bit.
"Trust me, I've got smiles everywhere," Lopez told "Morning Kombat" on Monday. "I'm happy. Just the fact that I can say, 'Go f--- yourself,' or anything like that, it's amazing."
The 23-year-old Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) outboxed and bullied the smaller Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) in October. He's hoping to return in March or April and said he's in talks with New York's Madison Square Garden, Hard Rock Stadium outside of Miami and the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as possible venues provided at least a portion of each venue's capacity can be filled with fans amid the pandemic.
Although Lopez sees an eventual move up to boxing's money division of welterweight, he acknowledges there are enough big names he hasn't yet fought at lightweight to give him motivation to keep making 135 pounds despite his body starting to outgrow it.
But whether his next big fight comes against fellow rising stars Gervonta "Tank" Davis, Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia, the native of Brooklyn, New York, has a trio of messages to share first. Actually, it's more like a question -- "what can they bring to the table for me?" And demands that you lower your price to understand there's only one A-side.
"[Fighting them next] is a possibility, it's just that they can't overprice themselves," Lopez said. "I didn't get what I would've gotten had this COVID not hit. I had to take a pay cut and I'm sure Loma did as well. Yes, money applies to everything and this is our career. We are putting everything on the line and we are jeopardizing that we might have to start from ground zero again if any of us loses.
"Yes, we can make a big fight happen but everybody needs to stop thinking about the business aspects as of right now. Yes, it's a business but Tank, you're not [Floyd] 'Money' Mayweather and you will never be 'Money' Mayweather unless you fight oppositions and let your ego go. The same applies for Devin Haney and the same applies for Ryan Garcia. These guys are trying to be 'Money' Mayweather but you have to be 'Pretty Boy' first. You have to work your way up."
Lopez's reference is to Mayweather, the retired PPV king and current promoter of Davis, who built his name first in the lower weight classes under the nickname "Pretty Boy" and took on all comers to gain critical respect. Once that was established, he moved up to welterweight and called his own shots under the moniker of "Money," a villainous alter ego who produced record-breaking numbers at the box office.
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