Teofimo Lopez’s New Advisors: Can They Save Him?

Teofimo Lopez has signed a multi-year advisory deal with Keith Connolly and Mike Borao. The WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) says he’s going to be “fighting the best” and will be in “big fights” this year.

If the new advisors could bestow talent on Teofimo that he doesn’t possess, his career would be in great shape by the end of 2025. However, that doesn’t seem likely. This year could be Lopez’s worst of his career, and he’d be at the end of his rope after February 2026.

High-Risk Fight Schedule

It’s great that Teofimo has signed a multi-year deal, but those guys can’t keep his career afloat if he intends on “fighting the best,” as he says. He doesn’t appear capable of winning his two fights in 2025, and he could lose in February 2025 as well.

Lopez, 27, will be in three make-or-break fights that could sink his career fully. He’s expected to fight IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins in April in a two-belt unification and then move up to 147 to challenge IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October.

If Teo loses to Ennis, he’ll face the Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia rematch loser in February 2026. That would be a loser’s consolidation bracket fight. Teo losing that fight would finish him at 0-3, and it’s hard to see him coming back to reinvest himself, no matter who manages him.

Lopez was floated around the Ring Awards event in London on January 11th, carrying himself like a superstar, but his career is not looking good after a string of horrible performances since 2021. He had a chance to fight Subriel Matias recently on PPV on the West Coast but turned it down. Some fans saw that as a case of Teofimo knowing that he would lose, so he chose to swerve the fight.