WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez may defend his title against #4 Subriel Matias on March 15th which will be shown on regular ESPN, not PPV. This is good news for fans, who were willing to pay to see this fight.
Lance Pugmire of Boxingscene reports that Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is not happy about putting the fight on PPV due to the ongoing robbery issue. That reduces profits for promoters, making some of the events less profitable to put behind a paywall.
Lopez vs. Matias: There is no PPV
The problem is that Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) and former IBF light welterweight champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) are not PPV fighters. It’s not a pay-per-view fight, unfortunately. Matias is not a household name in the US, and Teofimo has had his fights in the last four years.
For Teofimo to be in a PPV fight, he needs someone famous, like one of these fighters:
– Ryan Garcia
– Devin Haney
– Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Terence Crawford
– Jaron Ennis
None of these guys showed any interest in fighting Teo, which makes sense because he doesn’t play. Also, he has won a number of controversial matches in the last five years which makes him a dangerous fighter. The last thing those guys need is to be on the receiving end of a hometown decision against Lopez.
You just never know what you’re going to get with Teo. He looks good and then looks bad against the opposition, which is designed for show purposes. His behavior outside the ring is strange, as he says strange things during interviews.
Teofimo needs a good public relations coach to give him talking points in his interviews and control his tendency to be a loudmouth, sounding like he’s coming out of left field.
Teo’s Lack of Appeal
Although Teofimo, 27, is a two-division world champion, he has failed to gain much traction due to losses to George Kambosos, controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin, and a lack of fights against big names.
Lopez has fought only one big fight in his nine-year career, Vasily Lomachenko, who he last fought five years ago, in 2020.
Promoted Matias, 32, lost his IBF 140-lb title to Liam Paro by a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 last year in Manati, Puerto Rico. Matias didn’t do well in that loss, getting kicked out of the box and roughed up by Paro. In Matias’ last fight, he stopped Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9.
Lopez’s Last Five Contests
– Steve Claggett: UD 12
– Jamaine Ortiz: UD 12 [*controversial]– Josh Taylor: UD 12
– Sandor Martin: SD 10 [*controversial]– Pedro Campa: TKO 7
Teofimo needs to move up to welterweight and go after one of the world champions, like Brian Norman or Eimantas Stanionis. IBF champion Jaron Ennis is reportedly not interested in fighting Lopez, but he may change his mind once he gets his hands on the belt. Ennis is hungry for the belt.
If you’re in High Level, you have to hold your head and ask yourself how to turn Lopez into a sta. He has come off his one big career win against Lomachenko.
Source link
