By Allan Fox: Teofimo Lopez told his promoters at Top Rank on Tuesday that he will become the “undisputed” champion at 140 in 2022.
Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs) already became undisputed at 135 in 2020, and now he’s moving up to light welterweight to duplicate that accomplishment.
Immediately after Teofimo posted on Twitter his prediction of becoming the undisputed champion at 140 this year, he was dumped on by the fans.
Teofimo’s recent defeat at the hands of George Kambosos Jr. on November 27th has resulted in him being written off by people.
The fans aren’t factoring in that Teofimo fought with a life-threatening injury and was weight drained.
It was like Teofimo waving a red flag in the face of a herd of angry bulls, as the response was immediate with fans tearing into him.
The doubters don’t believe that Teofimo has the talent to defeat undisputed champion Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) to become the four-belt champ this year.
I will become UNDISPUTED again but at Junior Welterweight! #TheTakeover https://t.co/N5cxjfUqu6
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) January 5, 2022
If Teofimo is going to try and become the undisputed champion at 140 in 2022, he will need a little help from Taylor by giving him a shot at his four belts.
Taylor is talking about moving up to 147 soon, and he could make a move after he defends his belts next month against his WBO mandatory Jack Catterall on February 26th.
Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) will be facing Taylor at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. If Top Rank can persuade the 30-year-old Taylor to stick around long enough to defend against Teofimo, that fight can happen in 2022.
The worst nightmare for Teofimo would be for Taylor to vacate his four titles, and that would lead to a disorganized mess with the top 140-pounders trying to scoop up the scattered belts.
What Teofimo needs is for Taylor to give him a shot before he departs from the division, and that will likely mean that Teo won’t get a chance to take a tune-up.
Teofimo’s promoter Bob Arum said two weeks ago that he would like for him to face Jose Pedraza in his next fight.
But if Taylor is vacating his 140-lb titles soon, Teofimo won’t have time to take a tune-up. It’s now or never for him. It’s going to be tough for Teofimo to beat a talented fighter like Josh Taylor in his first fight at 140, but it’s possible.
As long as Teofimo is given medical clearance to fight and he’s not weight drained in making the 140-lb limit, he’ll have a good chance of beating Taylor.
The Teofimo that defeated Vasily Lomachenko and Richard Commey would be too much for Taylor. Lomachenko is a better fighter than Taylor, and Teofimo easily beat him in 2020.
