By: Hans Themistode
Even at the crack of dawn, the sound of a fist hitting a heavy bag can be heard. Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez refuses to leave the gym at times. The 23-year-old Brooklyn, New York native is currently in the midst of training camp as he prepares to take on mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. Although their contest is set to take place on June 19th, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, Lopez has spent the past few months working on his craft.
The goal, ultimately, is to not only take care of business next month but to do so in such devastating fashion, that the rest of the competition will want to eschew from him.
“What I’m trying to do is perfect my craft as much as possible, where I look so invincible that come June 19th, all of these 135-pound guys in my division are quiet,” said Lopez during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “They don’t want to fight Teofimo because of what he just did.”
For the majority of his young career, Lopez looked impressive. Yet, he took his game to an entirely other level in his most recent performance. In mid-October late last year, Lopez took on who many believed was the number one fighter in the world in Vasiliy Lomachenko. While most gave Lopez little to no chance of actually pulling off the win, the hard-hitting New Yorker blocked out the outside noise as he walked away with a close but clear unanimous decision victory.
The win for Lopez reportedly did more than just allow him to become the youngest undisputed champion of all time. More than anything, it elevated his confidence to a whole other stratosphere.
“I’m the best in the world man. The Lomachenko fight elevated me. When you fight the best and beat the best, you learn something from that fighter.”
With his self-belief through the roof, Lopez is determined to make a statement come June 19th, even going as far as to say that he’ll stop Kambosos Jr. in three rounds or less. Regardless of his bravado, Lopez claims that he’s taking his man as serious as possible.
“It’s a different style. He’s a less experienced guy but still knows what he’s doing in the ring. You can’t just overlook someone.”