By: Hans Themistode
Throughout the short career of IBF lightweight belt holder Teofimo Lopez, he’s looked outstanding, unbeatable, mesmerizing and whatever other superlative you can think of.
In short, the Brooklyn native has been great.
As he continued to rack up the knockouts, it was becoming more and more obvious that although he is extremely skilled, a step up in competition was needed.
The raise in opposition that most were asking for, came in the form of then IBF titlist Richard Commey. Most were expecting Lopez to win, but not without a serious fight on his hands. That notion was quickly proven to be untrue as Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) flattened his man in the second round. The highlight reel level knockout not only presented the 23 year old with his first world title, but it also gave him the opportunity to fight for all of the lightweight marbles this Saturday night against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Much like his win over Commey, Lopez’s father doesn’t expect his son to break a sweat when dealing with Lomachenko.
“It was easy for the Commey fight but this fight is even easier man.” Said Lopez Sr. to ESNEWS.
Lopez Sr. has always been braggadocious when regarding his son and nothing has changed. Throughout 397 amateur contests which include 396 wins, to go along with 15 pro contests, Lomachenko’s chin has stood up to some heavy hitters. In the case of Lopez however, his father believes that the highly praised defense of the Ukrainian and his punch resistance will fail him this coming Saturday night.
“There’s no question we’re going to get rid of this dude. It won’t go past six rounds. Getting closer to the fight I think it may go one or two rounds. Everything we worked for is going to pay off October 17th.”
Despite the disparaging words of Lopez Sr., his son is a prohibited underdog. With that being said, the oddsmakers and those who are backing the Ukrainian product to beat his son are fools. Lopez Sr. simply can’t wrap his head around a 32 year old with an already blemished record doing anything of note against his son.
“He already knows how to lose because he already lost to Salido. Plus he hasn’t looked good in the past three fights. It’s time for the new lion and it’s time for the old lion to go. Only the stupid people who don’t know boxing is going to bet against my son.”