Teofimo Lopez takes to social media to address critics who have criticized him for choosing #13 Steve Clagett for his next title defense for his WBO light welterweight belt on June 29th. I fought back.
warriors he rejected
Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) has claimed that fighters have no intention of stepping up and fighting Lopez, but some fans find it hard to believe that. Teofimo reportedly rejected three opponents offered by Top Rank promoters:
– Raymond Muratala
– Kenneth Sims
– Elvis Rodriguez
It's completely understandable that Teofimo doesn't want to fight these three talents. But rejecting those three in favor of 34-year-old Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) was a bad look on his part, as he was defeated by the controversial Jermaine Ortiz in January of last year. Some believe he lost his courage after the victory in a fight that fans thought he should have lost by a wide margin.
Jamaine had complete control over Teofimo, educating him from A to B all night long. After that disastrous performance, it's no surprise that Teofimo lost his nerve and chose to avoid a talent like Muratala.
Teddy chimes in
“He defeated a great fighter.” [Vasily Lomachenko in 2020]But since then, it's been a roller coaster of ups and downs,” boxing expert Teddy Atlas said on the Probox TV YouTube channel. He said he hasn't been feeling well in some games since then. – Armed, older and smaller fighter Vasily Lomachenko.
“You start asking yourself questions. Is he? [Teofimo] A fighter who stands up for a certain guy who thinks there's a level of fear, a level of danger, a level of urgency, or do you just fight against the competition?
“Here's where it gets tough. Is he not as good as we thought he was? I think that's fair. You start to wonder a little bit how he's struggled in some fights. “I guess so,” Atlas said.
Teofimo's harsh rebuttal
“Until someone puts their entire career on the line and takes the Ring Magazine lineage belt away from me, the rest of us need to STFU and step on the Lego. Sincerely, the leader of a new era in boxing,” Teofimo Lopez said. Xin response to criticism that it was inconsistent.
All of these other fighters are booked into the fight, and 140 divisions is actually not as many as you might think.
I said to myself and @trboxing I'm planning on competing 3-4 times this year. Everyone just wants me to win the hardest battles so that the rest of us can have an easy path!
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) April 6, 2024
