Promoter Bob Arum is frustrated with what he can do for Teofimo Lopez after recently turning down a fight with Subril Matias. The Top Rank boss noted that he challenged WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) to fight but nothing happened.

The decline of Teofimo

Lopez lacks self-awareness and does not realize His stock has hit rock bottom Since his loss to George Kambosos. He couldn’t call the shots and get the fights he wanted. Furthermore, Teo turned down an offer to help him rebuild his brand.

Fans no longer take Teofimo seriously, and new fans don’t know who he is. His recent performance against Journeymen Steve Cratchit This is a terrible thing and shows that this is the level at which he operates.

Arum hasn’t revealed who he’ll offer Lopez next, but if he’s lucky, he might get a chance to fight Ryan Garcia if he beats Devin Haney in this year’s rematch. Garcia will likely win this fight easily, and if he doesn’t get himself out with some weird demands, he’ll need Teofimo next. Lopez must understand that he is not the A-side in the fight with Haney and Ryan. Their names are arguably bigger than his.

This wouldn’t be the case if Teofimo hadn’t made a mess of his career since 2021, looking terrible in almost every fight since his narrow victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020 so. Things changed for Theo after that game, with some believing the punishment he received during that grueling game broke him. Now he appears clueless in the ring and talks nonsense during interviews.

it seems It will end badly Between Arum and Teofimfo, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native ruined his career by refusing to fight. Teo is now like a rapidly growing cancer; there may be no way to get rid of it.

So far, Lopez has not shown the ability to defeat top-notch opponents. He struggled against contenders, losing to George Kambosos Jr. and making two controversial calls against Jamaine Ortiz and Xander Martin Decide. Many fans believe that Teofimo lost both games, which means that his real record should be 19 wins and 3 losses, not 21 wins and 1 loss.

Arum’s frustration

While Arum isn’t giving up on the once-promising 27-year-old Lopez, he sounds desperate. Teofimo has struggled in five of his last six fights since 2021, but he still believes he is an elite-level fighter. He wasted time calling out fighters above him, like Jalen “Butz” Ennis and Terrence Crawford.

It would be better for Arum to wash his hands with Teofimo and say, “Shake it off.” When things went well for him from 2018 to 2020, he wasn’t going to turn his career around like many fans thought he would . Lomachenko changes things up again. Teofimo was not the same warrior.

Part of that may be because he no longer competes at 135, and he no longer has the size advantage he usually enjoys against smaller fighters in the lightweight division. If you compare Teofimo’s size to Lomachenko’s size the night of the fight, it’s clear he competes above his weight class.

Since moving up to 140, Lopez has looked average and should have lost twice to Germaine and Sandel. You can only imagine what talents like Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela, Alberto Puerlo, Ryan and Haney would do to him if they fought Teofimo now.

Bob Arum on Teofimo Lopez: “The question is what is he not going to say no to? Where is his head? Who does he want to fight? We gave him a whole group of fighters. And he didn’t perform Excellent. He looked terrible with (Jamaine) Ortiz and people thought he lost… pic.twitter.com/P2JM1gG9iZ

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 14, 2025