By Eóin Kennedy
As captivating and unique a character as Teofimo Lopez is, the self professed ‘Takeover’ is having a tough time taking anything over recently. He shone on the world stage once again last year when he gave a performance that was probably even better than his signature win against Vasyl Lomachenko, when he quite easily outpointed the then top dog at 140 pounds, Josh Taylor.
But somethings wrong with Lopez brand. Why is a young world champion from Brooklyn, New York fighting in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden instead of the big room. How he and Taylor’s world title fight didn’t command the world-famous arena’s hallowed hall is a damning indictment of the popularity, or lack thereof, of Lopez within his own city. New York isn’t showing up, so Bob Arum and Top Rank took the show on the road to Miami Beach, Florida on Saturday night and the novel venue was fun, even if the selection further proves that New York as a city is not tapped in with the Lopez story.
There was no novelty in how Lopez executed the result against Canadian Steve Claggett on Saturday, it was a win but too close for comfort and ultimately decided by the judges. This has become quite familiar for Lopez and it’s clearly hurting his brand. The next fight needs to be massive, and it needs to be against an American. It must be Devin Haney, Tank Davis, Shakur Stephenson or someone to that effect. I know those names straddle two weight classes, but Teofimo needs a box-office attraction as a dance partner for his next fight.
Isaac Cruz and his world title may be the exception to the rule of needing/wanting an American opponent. La Raza will certainly back their man with that patented Mexican enthusiasm and gusto, making this match up a massive event in Las Vegas, Texas or New York. Let’s see what happens, but Teofimo’s Takeover is still very much just a blueprint at this point.
