Teofimo Lopez Sr. has grown sick and tired of the growing narrative surrounding the sport of boxing. For a considerable amount of time, names such as Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, and more recently, Gervonta Davis, have been viewed as the face of the sport. Those sentiments, however, are erroneous from Lopez Sr.’s point of view.
This Saturday night, at the Hulu Theater in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Lopez Sr. will saunter through the arena as he escorts his son, Teofimo Lopez, to the ring. Greeting the Lopez family shortly after, will be current WBO super lightweight titlist and former undisputed champion, Josh Taylor. Although the bombastic trainer tips his cap to every other fighter that has put in the necessary work to climb toward the top of the mountain, Lopez Sr. is convinced that their efforts will be rendered extraneous once his son takes care of business.
“It’s the time right now to take over boxing,” said Lopez Sr. recently to BoxingScene.com. “After this fight, my son is the king of boxing.”
Taylor, 32, views himself as the super lightweight division’s top dog. But after scoring a controversial decision over Jack Catterall in 2022, the Scottish native relinquished three of his four world titles in an effort to eschew his mandatory challengers and lure Catterall back into the ring. His monumental efforts, nevertheless, were in vain as the two sides failed to secure a deal for an immediate rematch. Although just his WBO crown will be on the line this Saturday night, Lopez Sr. views their clash as an opportunity to jump into the spotlight.
By and large, Canelo Alvarez has been widely regarded as the sport’s cash cow and most recognizable figure. Lopez Sr., admittedly, praises Alvarez and everything that he’s done thus far. Still, despite packing out the house no matter where he fights, and regardless of the millions of pay-per-view buys the Mexican native has sold, Lopez Sr., at this point, is watching the sand in the hourglass of Alvarez’s career as he anxiously awaits his son to become the sport’s new megastar.
“The face of boxing right now is Canelo. After June 10th, it will be Teofimo Lopez.”