Teofimo Lopez Jr. was not impressed with the latest approach by Arnold Barboza Jr. to try and make a fight.
It wasn’t so much his recent in-ring performance, though the two-division lineal champion and reigning 140-pound king had advice for that part as well.
“Barboza needs to focus on getting better because he looked terrible,” Lopez insisted to a group of reporters of Barboza’s stoppage win over Xolisani Ndongeni after eight rounds.
The existing history between the two dates back to when both were under Top Rank, and Lopez’s team even mentioned Barboza (29-0, 11KOs) as a potential future foe. The bout never materialized, and Lopez went on to dethrone Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-1, 13KOs) for the 140-pound championship while Barboza has struggled to get the top players to look his way as one of the division’s high-risk options.
Lopez and his team were in attendance at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, where Barboza made his Golden Boy Promotions debut on Saturday’s DAZN show. Barboza made his way back to the arena floor some time after his bout, where he and his team ran into Teofimo Lopez Sr.
Words were exchanged, but it was when Barboza grabbed the elder Lopez that had did not sit well with his rightfully protective son.
“If you want to promote a fight, that’s one thing,” Lopez explained. “If you touch my father, I’m gonna lay hands on you. And it’s the whole team that’s gonna do it. There are certain ways he’s gotta know how to get the fights. Physical is not gonna be the one.
“I love everyone but I’m worse than Mike Tyson if you really want to test me. Whatever they were trying to do ain’t it.”
Lopez (19-1, 13KOs) next defends his lineal/WBO junior welterweight crown versus former amateur rival Jamaine Ortiz. Their scheduled 12-round championship bout headlines a February 8 ESPN show from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox