Teofimo Lopez Reigns As Lightweight King, Holds All The Crowns To The Thrown
By Scottie “The Context” White
LAS VEGAS – Boxing was treated to one of the hottest showcases in the lightweight division this past weekend 17 October. The collective opinions weighed in heavy for the top p4p fighter Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-2 10Kos) as the favorite to win the biggest bout of his career versus challenger Teofimo Lopez (15-0 12KOs). Many will call them expert opinions but in this case the majority were force into detention confinement on the bad side of an unfavorable lose for Lomachencko.
When it came down to it, Lomachenko a two-time Gold standard Olympian excelled to a three-division champion in a small window of professional fights. His resume is considered to be above average but short of those top tier names or memorable fights we can spend the reel in awe when speaking about boxing classics.
For Lopez, his Olympic pedigree may dim the light in the shadow of Lomachenko but as a professional boxer he’s proving to be a special star himself. Lopez performances perked up the fight fans in attendance each time he step up in competition and continued to verbally raise his flag for anyone tuned in for “The Takeover.” His father Lopez Sr has always echoed the pending greatness for Lopez jr, a fighter who was destined to be the divisional best by talking the talk and walking the walk. His declaration was to be a champion in 15 professional fights-done! Next, was to fight top two p4p boxing technician Lomachenko for all the marbles in a lightweight unification bout.
Following tough negotiations, the bell would usher this epic clash into existence as Lopez seized the momentum early with potent shots to body of Lomachenko and limiting space availability for him to warm up his dancing angles as previous victories before.
Did I mention this epic lightweight championship blessed the masses for absolutely free, which allowed the 4M viewers to watch Lopez catalogue the first half of the contest fairly easily. Through later rounds, Lomachenko energy would surge success peaking at best in the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh round.
Lopez then tighten his chin strap in the 12th frame, closing out the fight harmonizing the final bell by raising his hands in sure victory. Lopez covered his face briefly in what appeared to be tears of jubilance as the score cards are read. (119-109, 117-111, 116-112), becoming the youngest four-belt champion of this era to achieve this incredible accolade.
Was it an upset? According to the analytical expertise leading up to the fight indicates a clear confirmation that it surely was. For team Lopez, they relished in a moment of shivoo from all the hard work in defeating the Ukrainian superstar, they smiled in their fulfillment as the camera flashes pelted the draping titles in a memorable frame for the boxing annals.
“We still got a lot more to do,” Lopez said. “You know, and there’s so much more that I wanna accomplish. This is just the beginning. You know, I’m not satisfied with this. I definitely wanna collect more. And I’m just gonna enjoy today, take it all in, and when I go to sleep, then I wake up, you know, I’m just gonna move on to the next thing. You know, what’s next? That task that I should, that I can achieve and overcome.”
Before he could exit the ropes as the new divisional king, the media slingshot was pinging the bullseye already with “Who’s Next?” Big names come to mind, WBC Devin Haney, WBA Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia. We have plenty of time to cogitate the rabbit out the hat on which of these names could potentially earn the ticket in the biggest fight of their career to face Lopez in a clash in 2021.