Teofimo López’s refusal to fight against Matias highlights his decline

Promoter Bob Arum is frustrated with what he can do for Teofimo Lopez after his latest rejection of a fight against Subriel Matias. The Top Rank boss notes that he offered WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) fights, and nothing happened.

The decline of Teofimo

Lopez has no self-awareness and doesn’t realize it its value has bottomed out since his loss to George Cambosos. He’s not able to make the shots and get the fights he wants. Also, Teo turns down offers to help him rebuild his brand.

Fans don’t think much of Teofimo anymore, and newer fans have no idea who he is. His recent action against an officer Steve Claggett it was a horrible thing, showing that this is the level at which he is operating.

Arum isn’t saying who will offer Lopez next, but if he’s lucky, he could get a chance to fight Ryan Garcia if he whips Devin Haney in this year’s rematch. Garcia will likely win this fight easily, and the next one will need Teofimo if he doesn’t value himself with an absurd demand. Lopez needs to understand that he is not the A team in fights against Haney and Ryan. They are certainly bigger names than him.

It wouldn’t have been if Teofimo hadn’t made a mess of his career since 2021, looking awful in nearly every fight since his narrow win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. Something changed with Teo after that fight, and some believe the punishment he took in that grueling match broke him. Now he looks clueless in the ring, and talks nonsense during interviews.

It seems it will end badly between Arum and Teofimfo, as the Brooklyn, New York native is ruining his career by turning down fights. Teo is like a fast-growing cancer; there’s probably no way to cut it.

So far, López has shown no ability to beat cutting-edge opposition. He has fought against contenders, losing to George Kambosos Jr. and has received two controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. Many fans believe Teofimo lost both fights, which means his true record should be 19-3, not 21-1.

Arum’s frustration

While Arum hasn’t given up on the once-promising Lopez, 27, he seems desperate. Teofimo has underperformed in five of his last six fights since 2021, and he still believes he is an elite fighter. He’s wasted his time calling out fighters above his class, like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford.

Perhaps it would be better for Arum to wash his hands of Teofimo and tell him: “Good riddance.” He will NOT change his career to be the fighter that many fans thought he would be when things went well for him from 2018 to 2020. Again, Lomachenko is where things changed. Teofimo is not the same fighter.

Part of that could be because he no longer wrestles at 135 and doesn’t have the size advantage he usually enjoyed when competing against smaller fighters at lightweight. If you compare Teofimo’s size to Lomachenko’s on fight night, it’s pretty clear that he was competing out of his weight class.

Since moving up to 140, Lopez looks average and should have lost twice to Jamaine and Sandor. You can only imagine what talents like Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, Alberto Puerllo, Ryan and Haney would have done to Teofimo if they had fought him by now.

Bob Arum on Teofimo Lopez: “The question is what’s he not going to reject? Where’s his head? Who does he want to fight? We gave him a whole group of fighters. And it’s not like he’s coming out with great performances. He looked terrible with (Jamaine ) Ortiz and people thought he had lost this… pic.twitter.com/P2JM1gG9iZ

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 14, 2025