By: Sean Crose
“The match is over,” World Boxing Organization President Paco Valcarcel announced on social media Wednesday night, “@TeofimoLopez just informed me in writing that he is keeping @WorldBoxingOrg jr weight class title.” The WBO recently asked Lopez if he would like to keep the WBO welterweight belt he won from Josh Taylor in a very impressive match in June. Because, almost immediately after the fight with Taylor in New York, the newly crowned player Lopez announced his retirement. “What a relief!” he announced on social networks. “Retired at the top. Thank you Boxing for the wonderful life you have given me and all my loved ones.”
The WBO ultimately wants to make sure that Lopez is serious about this intention to leave the fighting world behind. As a result, Lopez was given a 24-hour deadline this week to let the Foundation know where he is. If Lopez does indeed retire, then lightweight magnate Devin Haney will have the opportunity to increase the weight division in the hope of achieving the WBO bodyweight belt. However, if Haney declines, leading contenders Arnold Barboza and Jose Ramirez will have a chance to fight for the WBO belt.
Now that it’s been reported that Lopez intends to keep her title, it’s worth noting that the WBO still allows Lopez to be immediately subject to the junior welterweight belt should Lopez decide she wants to. rematch within the next twelve months. While the whole thing plays out quite confusingly, things are likely to calm down now that Lopez has announced his intention to keep the list of world titles active. However, the tone of Valcarcel’s social media announcement on Wednesday suggested that the WBO honcho was rather disappointed by the whole incident. With that in mind, sweet science fans can attest that Lopez is one of the sport’s more colorful practitioners.
He is also one of the sport’s stronger practitioners. After making his mark at lightweight early on, he fought and defeated lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020. Despite losing the lightweight belt to George Kambosos during the defense. First, Lopez came back strong in the match against Taylor last month. Indeed, the 25-year-old New Yorker who dominated the undefeated Scots is essentially a one-way fashion. Having made it clear that he remains in the fighting game, it will be interesting for fans to see where Lopez goes from here.
