We all had a good laugh about it. Teofimo Lopez? Walking away from the game after bagging arguably the biggest win of his career over Josh Taylor? There was simply no way. Yet, with both the WBO super lightweight and Ring Magazine titles draped over his shoulders, Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) claimed that he was done with the sport.
Practically everyone in the boxing world held their sides as the laughter ensued. Lopez was just 25 years of age and flat-out came across as incoherent. None of it made sense. But, no matter how many times fans claimed that Lopez was bluffing, he shrugged his shoulders and reiterated that he was done.
Several factors played a part in his retirement according to Lopez. For starters, he felt as though he wasn’t being properly compensated. Secondly, Lopez believed that he could do more for the sport if he hung up his gloves.
Several top fighters at 140 pounds, including Regis Prograis, Subriel Matias, and Devin Haney – called Lopez out but he openly ignored them. What started off as just fun and games, turned into a serious situation.
Fans and media members slowly began to accept it. For whatever reason, Lopez wasn’t interested in continuing his career. But, seemingly out of nowhere, Lopez pushed retirement to the side and essentially told everyone he was just joking around. Now, he’ll officially return to the ring in just under a month when he takes on Jamaine Ortiz.
By all accounts, training camp is going smoothly. Although he’s fully focused on Ortiz, Lopez was recently asked to reveal why he had a change of heart. With a big smile plastered on to his face, the two-division champ went on to say that media personnel and fans are both gullible and docile.
“I had to milk the game,” admitted Lopez to Boxing Social. “I wasn’t gonna retire, it was a publicity stunt. You gotta know how to work the media too.”