By now, many were expecting Teofimo Lopez to end his retirement charade. But after lifting the WBO super lightweight title from Josh Taylor and abruptly calling it a career, the 25-year-old says his retirement announcement wasn’t spurious, nor is it some cry out loud for attention.
With his career seemingly behind him, Lopez, who fought under Top Rank on ESPN, doesn’t believe that the promotional banner will take a gigantic hit with him out of the picture.
Of course, Lopez brought a different flavor to Bob Arum’s stable. He audaciously spoke his mind, pompously threatened those who were considered better fighters, and, most importantly, showed up and showed out whenever he was given the call.
Wins over both Vasiliy Lomachenko and the aforementioned Taylor pushed his stock through the roof. Still, with Lopez now leaving a gigantic void on Top Rank’s roster, they’ll look to plug it with some of their budding stars.
Shakur Stevenson, Keyshawn Davis, and Jared Anderson come to mind. But, despite Anderson and Davis becoming star prospects, and regardless of Stevenson becoming a two-division world champion, Lopez is convinced that Top Rank has a fighter that’s ready to follow in his footsteps.
“Abdullah Mason Is The Next Best Thing For ESPN Since Teofimo Lopez,” said Lopez on his social media account.
At just 19, Mason (9-0, 8 KOs) had everything clicking this past weekend. For the first time in his young career, he took on an opponent with double-digit wins. In the end, Alex De Oliveira’s 20 previous victories did little to help him on the night.
In short, Mason brutalized him before putting the no-hoper out of his misery in the second round. Although Lopez doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and place too much pressure on the lightweight prospect, he does see something special in Mason already.