Teofimo Lopez Sr.: “Trust Me, We F*cking That Boy Josh Taylor Up”

By: Hans Themistode

Teofimo Lopez Sr. believes he’s been prophetic in his ability to predict his son’s future.

Once Teofimo Lopez stepped onto the boxing scene, Lopez Sr. screamed to the mountain tops that his son would become a world champion in 15 fights and undisputed in 16. Fast forward four years later, and Lopez proved his father right.

Lopez blasted Richard Commey in the second round of their IBF lightweight title fight in 2019, before moving on to dethrone Vasiliy Lomachenko one year later to capture the WBO, WBA, and WBC “Franchise” titles.

The one erroneous mistake Lopez Sr. believes he made, was allowing his son to stick around the 135-pound division as opposed to moving up in weight. As a result, Lopez Sr. maintains that his boneheaded move was the only reason why his son came up short against George Kambosos Jr. in November of 2021. While he was ultimately disappointed, Lopez Sr. vehemently believes that 2022, will be a massive year for his son.

“This is our f*cking year,” said Lopez Sr. during an interview with Punsh Drunk Boxing. “We have one ESPN and two pay-per-views.”

With Lopez Sr. aiming to push his son in the ring at least three times this year, the father and trainer of the former unified 135-pound titlist is hoping that one of those contests will take place against Scotland’s Josh Taylor at 140 pounds.

The 31-year-old southpaw nabbed the final two pieces of the super lightweight puzzle in May of 2021 against Jose Ramirez. Although Taylor was on cloud nine following the win, he was left disappointed in his most recent overall performance.

Pegged as a heavy favorite, Taylor attempted to defend his undisputed throne against fringe contender Jack Catterall. Despite the overwhelming belief that Taylor would easily take care of business, the highly regarded 140-pound titlist struggled mightily.

For long stretches of their contest this past weekend, Catterall outboxed his man and seemingly stamped his unexpected upset victory by dropping Taylor in the eighth round. Ultimately, however, Taylor eked out a controversial split decision victory. While Taylor has recently revealed that his bout against Catterall will be his last at 140 pounds, Lopez Sr. is hoping that he sticks around.

If Taylor does, in fact, change his mind and opts to continue his reign as a super lightweight, Lopez Sr. views a showdown against his son as inevitable. As for how he views a matchup between Taylor and his son playing out, Lopez Sr. smiles manically as he describes the vicious beating Taylor would endure.

“Trust me, we f*cking that boy Josh Taylor ass up. He’s going to get a whooping. My son is going to keep on hitting him and whooping his ass the whole night.”