By: Sean Crose
“Thank you everyone for making the best moments of my career AWESOME!” Teofimo Lopez announced on social media on Thursday. “Thank @trboxing And @espn for making ‘THE TAKEOVER’ come true! I am forever grateful to all Boxing sanctioning authorities for showing me I can and more than Boxing! What a career.”
The announcement appeared on a retweet from WBO president Paco Valcarcel, who stated: “Just now @TeofimoLopez was texting me that he gave up his Jr welterweight title. We should respect his decision…If he comes back, the wbo door will always be open for him..”
And so Lopez seems to be keeping his word that he is now retired from the sport of boxing after winning the WBO – and linear – junior weight class title thanks to a class performance against the incumbent. champion Josh Taylor last weekend in Manhattan.
“What a relief!” Lopez posted on social media earlier this week. “Retired at the top. Thank you Boxing for the wonderful life you have given me and all my loved ones.” Whether the 25-year-old Brooklynite will continue to retire remains to be seen. For now, though, Lopez 20-1 appears to be handing over her 140-pound crown.
After defeating heavyweight boxer Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020, Lopez, nicknamed “The Takeover,” lost countless lightweight titles he won from Lomachenko in his next bout, one nasty defeat to Australia’s George Kambosos.
Instead of trying to regain his belt, Lopez moved up the weight division to junior, where he was less than impressive in two wins. Indeed, many assumed the colorful Lopez would lose last Saturday night when he took on Taylor at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. However, Lopez proved the opponents unequivocally wrong.
Apart from some first innings, Lopez dominated the entire fight against Taylor, the previously undefeated Scot. Beating Taylor proved to be a high achievement, but there are those who believe that the boxer will eventually aspire to find new mountains to climb. After all, he is still a young man.
Plus, there’s a lot of competition out there, at least for the time being. There’s Regis Prograis, the incredibly talented WBC junior weightlifter, as well as the hugely popular Ryan Garcia. If he promotes such fights, Lopez is likely to earn a considerable amount of money and attention. However, this is a dangerous sport and Lopez’s decision must be respected, whether he decides to retire or not.
