Teofimo Lopez let fans know what he thinks of Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Davis, and Devin Haney by saying that all three of them would get beaten by Vasily Lomachenko right now.
IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo said that even though the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) is on his way out in terms of getting older, he believes they would beat Haney, Tank, and Shakur right now if given a chance to fight any or all of them.
Lomachenko isn’t being given a chance to fight those guys by their promoters, and he probably will never get the opportunity because he would wreck the revenue stream.
“Vasyl Lomachenko would beat all those guys, all those guys,” said Teofimo. “Lomachenko would beat up Tank, Lomachenko would devour Haney, Lomachenko would beat Shakur.
“Even though Loma’s on his way out, he’s still got enough to beat these guys. Shakur did great in his last fight. Kudos to him, bro. I like Shakur; we’ve known each other since we were 12-years-old. Shakur is confident. He was confident against Jamel [Herring]. He’s sparred Jamel.
“It’s not the power. Shakur has got everything in the book,” said Teofimo. “He’s got everything in the textbook to be great. Shakur has all that. His confidence of himself when you got to stick more there [in the pocket slugging] rather than [Stevenson using his pull-back style to avoid getting hit back].
“You can’t [fight like that]. Pretty Boy [Floyd Mayweather Jr.] even did it [stood in the trenches and fought]. Pretty Boy had to go in and dig in sometimes, and sometimes he got buckled, but he still fought. He had everything to gain and nothing to lose,” Teofimo said.
Vasily Lomachenko probably would beat Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Davis, and Devin Haney. That’s probably why none of those three fighters are calling Lomachenko out. Also, you don’t hear their promoters talking about wanting to let Lomachenko fight them.
Has Floyd Mayweather Jr. ever mentioned wanting to let Tank Davis fight Lomachenko? Nope. The same with Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn and Shakur’s promoter Bob Arum.
Those guys aren’t trying to match their young stars against Lomachenko because they know what could happen if they made that mistake.
“Those guys actually were the Four Kings,” said Teofimo about the 1980s fighters Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and Thomas Hearns, who was called the ‘Four Kings.’
“Yeah, but it’s so hard nowadays [for the Four Kings to fight each other]. What was Devin Haney’s response? ‘I got more followers than you.’
“Do you not understand that’s crazy. That’s the world I’m living in right now. ‘I can make it here if I just dance my way with Tik Tok.’
“Nah, not in this world, not in a boxing world. You can do it. In other words, it’s fine, but not here. It’s not about how many followers you have, it’s about how many belts you hold, and it’s about how bad you want it when you’re in there.
“You [Haney] almost got dropped by Jorge Linares. What do you think I’m going to do to you? He has a good chance,” said Teofimo when asked if Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. has a good chance of beating Haney in their fight on December 4th. The thing is this. Confidence, you got to have confidence.
“You can do all you want and look pretty, but once you got stunned, once you get hit, you got to bite down on the mouthpiece and push forward.
“And you don’t go and start hugging,” said Teofimo about in referring to how Devin Haney clinched nonstop in the championship rounds against Linares after getting staggered by him in rounds nine through twelve last May.
“You don’t go and start to try and play it safe. No, you bite down on that mouthpiece and try and fight the guy that’s trying to hurt you.
“That’s the mentality. Devin Haney got booed in his own hometown, and he’s going to fight again in his own hometown. Let’s see what happens now,” said Teofimo.
35-year-old Jorge Linares severely hurt Devin Haney in their fight on May 29th, and he was fortunate to make it out of the bout without getting stopped.
Even with the obsessive clinching that Haney was using during the last four rounds, which should have resulted in multiple point deductions, Linares could have stopped him if he had fought through the clinches.
Linares wasted the opportunity to stop Haney by just letting him hold without continuing to punch him.
“Tank Davis, they’re all p****ys, that’s what I feel about them. They get all mad and b*** hurt, but the accolades show. Don’t bring a thug-ness into this,” said Teofimo.
“Yeah, you can be thuggish and all that stuff, but do it in the ring. ‘If this were in the street, it would be different.’ You don’t have to talk like that.
“That’s why you’re not getting sponsors. That’s why you’re not getting endorsements because you’re talking like that.
“Your mind is still in the gutter. I don’t mean to be like that, but I’m trying to educate this man [Tank Davis]. Floyd tried to do it, and that didn’t work. S*** let me try to influence you. He thinks his s*** don’t stink.
“You [Tank Davis] should take this as an eye-opener. When you crashed in that plane, that was God was letting you know that you’re still here for a reason. Be appreciative of that, young blood.
“[Isaac ‘Pitbull] Cruz, Rolly said he would,” said Teofimo about Tank Davis easily beating ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in their fight on December 5th.
“I spoke to Rolando Romero, and he said Tank is going to go right through Cruz. Nobody wants to see that fight, and that’s what he said,” said Teofimo.
It’s unknown why Mayweather Promotions and Showtime picked Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz as the replacement to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on December 5th after Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero was pulled from the card.
I mean, Devin Haney and Regis Prograis volunteered to step in as the replacement for Tank to fight. Those guys were better known than ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, but for some reason, they chose him rather than Haney or Prograis.