Teofimo Lopez says he’s NOT going to fight a rematch with Vasily Lomachenko because he still believes that he wouldn’t have been given a second fight with the Ukrainian fighter if he’d have lost to him.
Fans have been calling for Teofimo to fight Lomachenko in a rematch, as there’s a lot of questions about the scoring of their fight last October.
Did Teofimo deserve the win or was it given to him because he’s a popular younger fighter?
Teofimo Has Changed
The money that Teofimo made from the Lomachenko fight seems to have changed his personality. He now talks more like a motivational speaker/politician than a fighter.
It doesn’t sound like he’s going to be in boxing for too much longer, especially if he sticks with the idea of moving up to 140 to challenge Josh Taylor.
It’s interesting how one win over Lomachenko could change a person as much it did Teofimo. The victory did something to Teofimo’s ego as well as his motivation.
Teofimo states that he’s moving on to “bigger and better things,” which he doesn’t appear to be doing for his next fight against George Kambosos Jr. on October 16th.
That’s a fight that WON’T be “bigger or better” than a rematch with Lomachenko. But it is a safe fight for Teofimo facing Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) because he’s not in the same league as Lomachenko, and he’s not considered a threat to beating him.
The victory for Teofimo last October made him the undisputed lightweight champion, but the fight was closer than the lopsided scores the three judges turned in for the fight.
Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) is defending his IBF, WBA, WBC & WBO lightweight titles against Kambosos on FITE.TV pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“The thing is if I had lost would I have gotten the same respect? Would I have gotten the same thing? No, absolutely not,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fighthub on him deciding NOT to give Vasily Lomachenlo a rematch.
“So, now people got to swallow that pill. Why can’t y’all just swallow the pill. We’re on to bigger and better things,” said Teofimo in making it clear he wants no part of a rematch with Lomachenko.
Teofimo might have gotten a rematch if the fight was close or if the judges scored the Lomachenko in a wacky way. It does sound like Teofimo is afraid to fight Lomachenko again for some reason.
The bigger pill that Teofimo is talking about is something that hurts himself because it’s not just the fans that are being cheated by Teo not giving Lomachenko a rematch. He’s hurting himself by not fighting Lomachenko again because he’s not viewed as a ducker.
“Yeah, I’m 24. Yeah, I was a young kid,” said Teofimo in sounding like he’s gloating about his win over Lomachenko. “I was 23 when I had my back against the ropes, but I’m pushing forward when the going got tough and I went in and I smashed it
“I get blamed for that, but you know what? I prevailed. I made what I made. I did what I did,” said Teofimo.