Teofimo Lopez has ruled out a move up to welterweight to challenge IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Lopez, who is the WBO light welterweight champion, says he wants to face Terence Crawford, he felt her start to show signs of slowing down. Teofimo (20-1, 13 KO) says he wants to face Crawford, 36, before he gets too old.
Teofimo Eyes Crawford, Not Ennis
Crawford has shown no interest in returning to 147 to give Teofimo a handicap to fight him. Bud Crawford is campaigning at 154, and has not talked about returning to 147 before retiring.
Although the WBA and WBO have yet to strip Crawford of his last two belts at 147, that is expected to happen soon.
“Crawford looks slow. I better find him before he finishes. I’d rather find him before he’s really old,” said Teofimo Lopez talking to Fighthype about wanting to take Terence Crawford.
Lopez’s Motivation: Cash Out Against Crawford
What Teofimo said is true. Crawford is on a slow streak, which could lead to him losing his next fight on August 3 against WBA junior middleweight champion Israel Madrimov in Los Angeles. However, Crawford will not return to 147 to give Teofimo a chance to get a payday against him, which is probably the only reason he wants to fight him.
“He’s going slow. Look at the legs. I am only 26 years old. He is 36 years old. We are separated by ten years. This guy I’m dealing with, Steve Claggett. He is 35 years old, and this boy is a person who can withstand 147 and go down to 140,” said Teofimo.
The reason Teofimo Lopez is fighting Claggett is because he shows an inability to fight decent opponents at 140 and is in danger of losing even to the opponent. Top Rank is taking notice of Teofimo, protecting their investment as long as possible until they can get him a big money fight.
Crawford or Gervonta Davis are the type of fights that Top Rank could easily agree on, but until a fight like that falls into their laps, expect to see Teofimo protected, fighting smaller guys the same way Claggett did.
“I don’t understand why [team Crawford] they don’t want to make war happen,” said Teofimo. “We are already there [great]. We just want to see how big we can get. That’s what I thought boxing was. The best is the best fight. “
Teofimo is not a fighter. Instead, he’s a regular fighter with fans and followers on the East Coast but doesn’t have the talent to take on the killers at 140.
Dismissing Boot Ennis as a legitimate threat
“Jaron ‘Boots,’ they just promoted him to IBF champion. He has not protected him from this coming battle [against replacement opponent David Avanesyan on July 13th],” said Teofimo. “You are facing someone who had already beaten Crawford [in December 2022].”
What Teofimo said about Boots Ennis will give him cover for fighting him because it’s a match where he’s likely to get killed, a match that destroys what’s left of his popularity.
Defeat of Teofimo by George Kambosos Jr. ruined his form, and his controversial wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz finished him. Now he’s down and wants to cash out against Crawford.
Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) wanted to challenge Crawford for the IBF title, but was not willing to defend the belt against him.
When it became clear that Crawford would not defend Boot, which was mandatory in the IBF, the International Boxing Federation stripped him. That’s why Boot Ennis was promoted to IBF champion instead of fighting for the belt.
Boot Ennis’ was scheduled to defend IBF-bound Cody Crowley in his first defense on July 13, but pulled out of the fight due to a health issue.
“This is his [Boots Ennis] the first challenge is to fight, believe it or not. I think Boots is a great style hero. However, about 30 of his fights were club shows in Philly shows. No one has really challenged him. There is a lot of talent there, but we have to see something from Jaron ‘Boots’ before we trade that,” said Teofimo, ruling out the possibility of a fight with Boot Ennis.
It is understood that Teofimo would avoid Bots Ennis because that fight will end badly for the New Yorker. Teofimo is having trouble just trying to beat rivals Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin.
Teo is now cut from a fight with Steve Claggett, and is using Terence Crawford’s name for good purposes to build interest in his title defense this Saturday night on ESPN.
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