Sporting a dark, scary vampire look at the Ring awards on Saturday, Teofimo Lopez says he chose not to fight Subriel Matias because he didn’t want to be a “step stool” to help out the recently beaten IBF light welterweight champion.
He says Matias wouldn’t win the fight, and he didn’t feel he had anything to gain by helping the former champ rebuild. Although Teo had been helped to rebuild after his loss, he didn’t see any point in assisting someone else in the same position he was in back in 2021.
Moreover, Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) says he wanted a “bigger guarantee” after Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said the fight wasn’t PPV-worthy. It’s unclear what kind of money Teofimo, 27, was looking to get from Top Rank as his “insurance,” but a deal couldn’t be made.
Teofimo is now sitting on the shelf with no fight, and he’s already been out of the ring for seven months since his tougher-than-expected victory over journeyman Steve Claggett on June 29th last year.
Lopez says Matias was the only option that Top Rank gave to him. It wasn’t “multiple options,” and he states that he “put his foot down” because he’s tired of the “take it or leave it” fights that have been offered to him.
“I feel like it’s a time for me to get bigger and better fights. Matias is trying to work back up from losing to Liam Paro in his home country,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fight Hub TV about why he turned down a fight against Subriel Matias. “I think by doing so, why am I going to be the step stool for that guy?
“He’s not going to win. Of course not. Bob Arum, the CEO of Top Rank, mentioned that fight is not pay-per-view worthy. I agree. Bob Arum, the chairman, he stated that. Whoever else was involved in this situation, they really wanted to push for PPV.
“I said if that’s the case, I need insurance. ‘Give me a bigger guarantee, and then we could start talking about making the fight. I’m ready to fight now.’ Things didn’t come out in terms. They knocked it down. They said I performed in bad faith for the fight, but in reality, they only gave us one option,” said Lopez.
In hindsight, Teofimo made the right decision not to take the fight with Matias (21-2, 21 KO) because there was an excellent chance that he would have lost to him. Matias would thrive against Lopez’s fighting style, and he’s on another level to George Kambosos Jr, who proved to be Teo’s kryptonite.
The New Yorker Lopez can’t handle pressure fighters. We saw that against Kambosos, Jamaine Ortiz, and in the later rounds of his 2020 upset victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.
“There were no multiple options of fighters, and they didn’t want to do unifications,” said Teofimo about Top Rank. “They didn’t want to pay certain fighters x amount of dollars. I just don’t understand. It feels like it’s a shot at me. I’m going to take it that way as an opinion of mine as my market.”
It’s understandable why Top Rank wouldn’t pay an arm and a leg to set up a unification fight for Teofimo against one of the other champions because it wouldn’t be PPV. He’s not popular enough, and the other champions at 140 aren’t big names.
The champions at light welterweight
– Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
– Richardson Hitchins
– Alberto Puello
“You’ve got to think of it as a business perspective, and I’m coming into this year,” said Teofimo. “Wouldn’t you rather see it on lineal TV open to the public rather than the first year of me coming back in 2025, I do PPV? Why would I charge you guys? You guys are there to watch us. It should be for free. ESPN and the network, they still get their cut, and so do we. Let’s leave it open for everyone.
“I just put my foot down. I’ve been doing ‘take it or leave it’ fights for you guys [Top Rank], and I just can’t do that anymore,” said Lopez.
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