Teofimo Lopez Breakdown and What's Next for Him? [ENGLISH]

On Saturday December 10, 2022 we got to see Teofimo Lopez fight versus Sandor Martin from Spain in a 10-round super lightweight (140) bout. Big expectations from Teofimo coming into his second fight in the 140 division after a TKO win in the 7th round versus Pedro Campa. Saturday's bout versus Martin was a tough battle for Teofimo and we will be looking at what went right, wrong and what should we expect from Teofimo moving forward in his young career.  Lopez is a former champion in the star-studded Lightweight (135) division after defeating the great Vasyl Lomachenko by unanimous decision in 2020, but then lost the titles in the following fight after a long break a year and a month after to George Kambosos Jr.

The Fight

There's a very famous saying in the boxing and fighting worlds that is "styles make fights" and this was the case that made this fight so tough for the 25 year old from New York.Teofimo is known for being an aggressive power puncher who uses the jab to his advantage to open up for big power punches. Also a very effective counter puncher due to his speed. On Saturday he faced an agile, technical, and swifty opponent in Sandor Martin which made his night a very difficult one. 

Early on during the fight we got to see Lopez's agility and aggressiveness using his jab opening up for very effective body shots and hooks. He was dictating the pace of the fight early on and looked very comfortable. Teofimo got knocked down in the second round with a very well connected right hook by Martin but that didn't slow down his aggressiveness. He kept using the same tactic of using his jab to open up for other shots to connect but it seemed like Sandor took notice of this and adjusted well to defend.

As I mentioned, Sandor Martin is a very agile and technical fighter who was constantly using his body and head movement to his advantage. At many points during the fight, Lopez was looking to land big powerful combinations but missed most of them due to Martin's defense. After Martin figured out Lopez's game plan, it became difficult for Lopez to execute it well because Martin made the proper adjustments, while Lopez failed to do so. Martin's adjustments made it very difficult for Lopez to land the big shots effectively, but ultimately did enough to edge out a very close win.

Teofimo Lopez performed well enough to win this fight, but what I saw from him is very concerning moving forward. The lack of mid fight adjustments and a concrete game plan won't work well in the long run against proven opponents. He isn't the best defender either, but he possesses the abilities to be one. Obviously he is known for his strength and power, but he is also very fast and can move well in the ring but for some reason it doesn't translate to defend himself.

The ring side judges ruled this fight 97-92 Lopez, 95-94 Martin, and 96-93 Lopez giving Teofimo Lopez a win by Split Decision. I scored the fight 96-93 Lopez giving Teofimo rounds 1, 3 to 6, and 9 and 10. Round 9 being a swing round that could've gone either way. 

What's Next?

In boxing, there is the constant discussion about what should the fighter do next. What does he have to do to improve? Should he change his corner? Who should he fight? The main concern for Teofimo Lopez currently and moving forward is that he should seriously consider changing his corner and getting a new trainer. Teofimo Lopez is currently being trained by his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr. There have been numerous of great father-son, trainer-boxer duos in history and currently. For example, Bill and Devin Haney, Anatoly and Vasyl Lomachenko, Kenny and Shawn Porter, and others. But Teofimo Sr's training abilities have been at question since Jr's loss versus George Kambosos in 2021. Just like in the fight against Martin, Kambosos was a tough opponent for Lopez and he failed to adjust to Kambosos plan, which effectively led to a loss. During the Kambosos fight, there was an instance when the cameras were on their corner and the advice that Sr was giving Jr was horrible and of no help for Jr to try to win the fight. Teofimo Lopez Sr has failed to establish a gameplan for his son and in-fight adjustments which have been detrimental to his young career, even with Teofimo asking himself "Do I still got it?" after the win after Sandor Martin. 

I believe Teofimo has all of the tools to be a great champion in this sport but he needs better coaching and mentorship. At this point in his career, telling your fighter to "go out there and punch" is not enough. We have seen little improvements from fight to fight by Teofimo since his first rise to stardom after the knockout win versus Richard Commey in 2019 that put his name in the international spotlight. 

As for his next fight, this is a very tough question to ask. With Josh Taylor moving up to the welterweight (147) division, the division is up for grabs. Regis Prograis recently won the vacant WBC title, Subriel Matias and Jeremias Ponce are lined up to fight for the vacant IBF title, Alberto Puello has the WBA title, and the WBO title is vacant still. 

Taking a look at the WBO rankings, a good fight to make is Teofimo Lopez vs Liam Paro, Jose Carlos Ramirez or Arnold Barbosa, Jr. But before taking a look at a title in the 140, he should seriously consider changing his corner.