WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez looked intimidated during his face-off today with mandatory Arnold Barboza Jr. ahead of their press conference to promote their May 2nd fight at Times Square in New York City.
Intimidation Factor
The two fighters came face-to-face in the hallway and Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) immediately started flexing and talking trash at the challenger Barboza Jr. (32-0, 11 KOs). You could tell Teo wasn’t comfortable coming into contact with Barboza Jr without a big crowd around him for support to play to the audience.
The primitive attempts of intimidation by Teo looked like someone of the caveman days. What was missing was the growling and snarling that was done by early man in the prehistoric age.
Lopez-Barboza Jr. will meet in a 12-rounder on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on DAZN PPV. The co-feature bout is Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez. Any of these three fights are good enough to headline this card.
In terms of competitiveness, this should be the order:
1. Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr.
2. Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez
3. Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
Lopez has been giving Barboza Jr. the runaround for the last three years, ignoring his callouts. He hasn’t wanted to fight him. It would be understandable if Teofimo had been fighting cutting edge opposition since 2021, but he’s not.
Top Rank has matched him against Steve Claggett, George Kambosos Jr., Josh Taylor, Pedro Campa, Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin in the last four years, Barboza Jr. is fighting at a higher level than any of those guys by a long shot.
Teofimo-Barboza Jr. fight wouldn’t be happening if not for Turki Alalshikh, because Lopez has wanted nothing to do with fighting Arnold.
Time’s Up
Arnold Barboza Jr: “It’s about time.”
Teofimo Lopez: “I can smell you.”
Barboza: “You know what that smells like.”
Teofimo: “I can’t be around that.”
Barboza: “You look like a little b***.”
Teofimo: “The biggest b**** there is.”
Barboza: “I know you are. We know it.”
Teofimo: “Damn right.”
Barboza: “We know it and I’m going to show it on May 2nd, too.”
Teofimo: “I like it. Hell, yeah.”
Last Updated on 03/04/2025
Read the full article here