Teofimo Lopez isn’t about to let an underwhelming performance dent his confidence.
The 140-pound contender from Brooklyn, New York, is coming off a competitive, if dull, split decision win over Sandor Martin of Spain at Madison Square Garden in New York City. After the fight, Lopez was caught by an ESPN mic openly questioning himself to his handlers, saying “Do I still got it?”. The moment caused a ripple through the boxing world.
In a follow up interview on the State of Boxing on ESPN+, Lopez was repeatedly questioned about his revealing comments — he downplayed them — and taken to task about his prospects for success in the 140-pound division. Lopez, a former unified lightweight champion, made the move to 140 earlier this year, in August, after getting upset by George Kambosos Jr. in his previous fight in September.
Lopez offered up a hearty defense by praising his ambition and connecting himself to sporting greats such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Muhammad Ali. He also ridiculed Martin for not wanting to “engage” in their fight, something that he does not expect from other elite fighters in the 140-pound division.
“People don’t understand—how can I say this—they’re not at this level of greatness,” Lopez said. “They’re not. Truth be told. Teofimo started the trend of everyone becoming undisputed. Like, everything. I’m a trendsetter. All these things is because I’m uniquely me. When all that comes together a lot of people don’t realize I’m just destined for greatness.
“What I want from myself is perfection, I want to be perfect in there. But the only person that’s perfect is God. However, I know I can get to that point. I have it in me. I’ve always had that drive in me. After the fight, everybody’s talking bogus, and what do I do? I go right back into the gym.
"And I’ve been going to the gym. I haven’t been stopping. Right now I’m over here, in Vegas, promoting with my sponsors, with Reign Body Fuel and hey, I’m doing my thing, just staying in the loops of things. My mindset, I understand Kobe so well. I understand Kobe so well. It eats us inside. We’re great.”
Lopez also took issue with what he believes is evidence of nefariousness during his fight against Martin: one of the ring corners was perpetually wet with water. Lopez brought up accusations of corruption in the sport in the past, most notably in the aftermath of his upset loss to Kambosos.
“If people want to cheat and do all these other things—Hey I’m just a clean guy,” Lopez said. “I may start talking a lot about the industry. I may do that. You know what I’m sayin’? But you guys don’t quite get what I’m trying to do here."
"Listen, I can’t wait to collect all these belts, man, in 2023," Lopez continued. "It’s gonna be like Jordan all over again. I’m gonna be dunking on them."
"You guys have the boxer of a lifetime, a boxer that truly wants to be the greatest," Lopez continued, referring to himself. "It doesn’t matter who it is, if it’s another country fighting another country. We do what we do.
"The Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali, has how many losses? Five, six—who else do I have to say? Sugar Ray Leonard? Roberto Duran? Tommy Hearns? Those are what made those champions be great, legends. Not these other fights today that just want to protect their ‘0’".
