Teofimo Lopez Jr. offered a few more details motivating his decision to retire from boxing.
The former unified lightweight champion and recently crowned junior welterweight titlist announced his retirement several weeks ago upon defeating Josh Taylor at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Speculation abounded online that Lopez’s talk of retirement was a strategic move in advance of his impending divorce proceedings with his ex-wife. Lopez has openly taken his wife to task in the media, accusing her of taking advantage of his earnings from boxing.
But Lopez poured cold water over that theory in a recent interview. Lopez said the actual reason has to do with the way he has been treated by ESPN, which is his broadcaster via his longtime promoter Top Rank. Lopez said he felt sighted by ESPN for not receiving an invitation to attend the annual ESPY awards, whereas several of his boxing peers did.
Lopez’s fight with Taylor was the most watched boxing main event on network or cable television in the United States this year, according to Nielsen data, as first revealed by BoxingScene.com’s Keith Idec.
“People are saying this retirement thing is because of the divorce situation,” Lopez told RingTV. “It may look like that, Captain Obvious, but it’s not. It’s about respect. You have ESPN inviting Shakur Stevenson, Tank Davis, Devin Haney and Claressa Shields to the ESPYs—and I’m not. Claressa is the only one who really deserves to be invited from that group. I’m nowhere to be found. I gave up the WBO belt and I will give up the Ring belt, but I want the Ring belt. I’ll figure that out a year from now.
“I’m affiliated with ESPN through Top Rank, and if my own network doesn’t want to support me, after I got their highest rating this year, what can I do? I have to get out.”
Lopez previously stated that he would only return to boxing if he could garner a “nine-figure” contract directly with a network—and without the services of a promoter.
The Brooklyn native has expressed a desire to create opportunities for younger fighters during his retirement. He noted, however, that not even those close to him believe he has actually called it quits.
“No one close to me, no one in my family or my friends, believes I’m retired,” Lopez Jr. said. “I believe me. I’ve built a lot. I have a big fight coming up in court, which is the biggest fight of my life for my son. I am not a slave to anyone or boxing. The only one I serve is God Almighty. I got what I got from boxing and I’m out. Give this time. I’ll create more business opportunities and I need time to grow that.”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.