Teofimo Lopez donned a black vampire look at the Lord of the Rings Awards on Saturday, saying he chose not to fight Subriel Matias because of his don’t want to be a “Stepping Stool” Help the recently defeated IBF light welterweight champion. He said Mathias was not going to win this fight. Didn’t help the former champions rebuild.

Additionally, Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) said he wants a “Greater Guarantee” After Top Promoter Bob Arum said the match wasn’t worth the PPV. It’s unclear what kind of money Teofimo, 27, wanted from Top Rank as his “insurance,” but a deal failed to come to fruition.

Teofimo now has no fight left to speak of, having been out of the ring for seven months since a tougher-than-expected victory over journeyman Steve Cratchit on June 29 last year.

Lopez said Matias was the only choice Top Rank gave him. It’s not a “multiple options,” and he said he’s “unwavering” because he’s tired of the “take it or leave it” fights being offered to him.

“I feel like it’s time for me to have bigger, better fights. Matias is trying to bounce back from his loss to Liam Parrot in his homeland.” Teofimo Lope Zi said. battle center tv On why he turned down a fight with Subril Mathias. “I thought, well, why would I be that guy’s stepping stone?

“He’s not going to win. Of course not. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum mentioned that the fight wasn’t worth the pay-per-view. I agree. Chairman Bob Arum said so Said. Whoever else is involved in this situation, they really want to push for the PPV.

“I said if that’s the case, I need insurance. “Give me a bigger guarantee and then we can start talking about the fight. “I’m ready to fight now. Things didn’t work out. They pushed it down. They said I acted dishonestly in the game, but really, they only gave us one option,” Lopez said .

In hindsight, Teofimo made the right decision not to fight Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) because he had a good chance of losing to him. Matias would thrive in Lopez’s fighting style, and he’s on another level with George Kambosos Jr., who has proven to be Te’o’s nemesis.

New York native Lopez can’t handle the pressure warrior. We saw it against Kambosos, Jermaine Ortiz, and in the later rounds of 2020 with his upset win over Vasily Lomachenko.

“Fighters don’t have options and they don’t want to unify,” Teofimo said of Top Rank. “They don’t want to pay certain fighters x amount of dollars. I just don’t get it. It feels like a shot at me. I’m going to look at that as my view of the market.”

It’s understandable why Top Rank wouldn’t spend a fortune to give Teofimo a unification fight against one of the other champions, as this isn’t a PPV. His popularity is not high enough, and the other 140 champions are not big names either.

light welterweight champion

– Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela
——Richardson Hitchens
——Alberto Puello

“You have to think about it from a business perspective, and I got into it this year,” Teofimo said. “Wouldn’t you rather see it on straight television that’s open to the public, instead of my first year back in 2025, when I do PPV? Why would I charge you guys? You guys are there watching us. It should be Free. ESPN and the networks, they still get their cut and so do we.

“I just put my foot down. I’ve been fighting a ‘take it or leave it’ battle for you guys (Top Rank), but I can’t do that anymore,” Lopez said.