Teofimio Lopez must soon decide if he wants to keep his title WBO Light Welterweight or abandon him to focus on his potential fight in October against the champion of 147 LB IBF Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on the Riyadh card of Turki Al-Sheikh.
WBO deadline
The ring reports that the World Boxing Organization ordered Teofimo (21-0, 13 KB) to defend its 140 lb belt against the winner of the February 15 confrontation between # 1 WBO Arnold Barboza Jr. (31- 0, 11 KB) and # 2 Jack Catterall (30-1, 13 KB).
Teo must defend his WBO title against the winner of this fight within 180 days, with a deadline for August 14. Although it is certainly possible for Lopez to defend his title against the winner of Barboza Jr-Catterall within this period, it seems 100% unrealistic that he does it because of the risk of losing.
THE ‘Brooklyn vampire“As some fans call it Teofimo, has been well protected by its promoters in the first row in the past four years since George Kambosos Jr. exhibited it during a divided defeat of 12 laps in 2021.
Even with the careful twinning that the first row made for Teofimo, he had to be saved defeats by the scoring of judges in his fights against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz in 2022 and 2024.
Teo was discussed fighting a unification against Ibf Light Welterweight Champion Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KB), perhaps in April as part of the three-fighting agreement that Lopez signed with Turki Al-Sheikh.
However, as Teofimo did not mention this fight in the interviews, it suggests that he left this risky match. Lopez would traditionally avoid This type of combat with each ounce of his being. He is not able to beat a high -level talent like Hitchins, and he looked silly to try.
If Turki wants Teofimo to take this fight against the Hitchins, he may have to pay him an exorbitant sum or make him slide in the ring which kicked and cries. We do not know how much Teo would like a fight against Hitchins, but it would not be surprising that it is an absurd number.
It is a terrible match for Lopez and would make him pass a bad start with a unilateral defeat in his agreement of three fights with Turki. It would not be bad for Al-Sheikh if he had an escape clause in his contract with Teofimo to allow him to withdraw from the agreement if he immediately loses in his first fight.
If Teo empties by Hitchins in a unilateral defeat, it would be useless in Turki for a fight against “ boots ” ennis on his October card in Riyadh. Boxing fans would not want to see Teofimo in a fight with Ennis in the back of a defeat and four terrible performances against Steve Claggett, Jamaine Ortiz, Sandor Martin and George Kambosos Jr.
