Promoter Bob Arum says his fighter, Teofimo Lopez, is an “Underdog” towards Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for his IBF and WBA welterweight titles if that struggle occurs subsequent. Teofimo (23-1, 13 KOs) has been calling out Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) since beating Arnold Barboza Jr. by a boring 12-round unanimous choice final Friday night time at Occasions Sq. in New York Metropolis. Teofimo lacks the facility, measurement, and braveness to have any shot at beating Ennis. If the struggle occurred, it could be a money-grab on Boots and Lopez’s half.
Too A lot, Too Quickly
Ennis would clearly be too huge, too highly effective, and gifted for the smallish Teofimo, who has traditionally folded when going through stress fighters. Boots is extra excited by unifying towards different champions than preventing an everyday contender, or in Teofimo’s case, a man not ranked at 147, simply developing in weight for the cash. He’s already hinted that he’ll return to 140 after. So, that is only a one-off for Lopez.
Lopez, 27, desires a big-money struggle to earn the form of dough that a number of the different fighters have been having fun with currently. No person is excited by preventing him, and he wouldn’t be capable to earn the kind of dough that fighters like Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Terence Crawford are getting.
Furthermore, Teofimo’s operating towards Barboza Jr., which some followers in comparison with Shakur Stevenson, makes him one of many undesirables and never somebody that the favored fighters would wish to waste time on. Nobody desires to struggle runners or fighters who’re intent on clowning and showboating all night time like Teo did in his struggle towards Barboza Jr.
“I believe he’s very a lot an underdog towards [Jaron ‘Boons’] Ennis,” stated promoter Bob Arum to Manouk Alopyan at Ring Journal about Teofimo Lopez being an underdog towards IBF and WBA welterweight champion Jaron Ennis if that struggle occurs subsequent.
Ugly Battle
If the Ennis-Teofimo struggle did occur, the overall perception is it could be a mismatch with Boots blanking Lopez in a one-sided struggle. Lopez would probably use the identical Karen Chukhadzhian model that followers noticed him use towards Barboza Jr. final Friday night time. He’d transfer all night time, clown, and try to steal rounds primarily based on one or pictures. It might be ugly and and much much less entertaining than Ennis’ rematch with Karen.
