By Daniele D’Alessio
THE relationship between Teofimo Lopez Jr and Teofimo Lopez Sr as boxer and coach has beforehand been criticised. When Lopez suffered the primary and solely lack of his skilled profession to George Kambosos Jr in 2021, many questioned the steering ‘The Takeover’ obtained from his father within the nook.
On the time, Kambosos was a large underdog and Lopez’s defeat to the Australian remains to be thought-about one of many greatest upsets in the previous couple of years. Regardless of developing quick through cut up choice, some imagine Lopez ought to by no means have misplaced to Kambosos, particularly after beating Vasyl Lomachenko to turn out to be a unified light-weight world champion.
Since then, Lopez has blown cold and warm in fights. The American, with Honduran heritage, regarded sensational in opposition to Josh Taylor to turn out to be a two-weight division world champion in June 2023. The scorecards had been comparatively shut, however Lopez regarded ranges above the Scotsman, like a pound-for-pound celebrity taking up an overmatched challenger.
Nonetheless, his bouts with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, particularly, left the boxing world scratching its head, questioning if Lopez was the identical boxer who was so dominant at 135 lbs. Some followers even believed he was lucky to emerge victorious.
The phrase ‘theft’ will get thrown round far an excessive amount of within the sport. But, on the absolute least, Lopez had aggressive contests in opposition to opponents who aren’t thought to be the perfect within the 140-pound division.
And regardless of profitable each spherical in opposition to a sturdy however restricted Steve Claggett in his final combat, Lopez was unable to place an exclamation mark on the win with a knockout – one thing he hasn’t achieved in 4 consecutive bouts.
Regardless, Lopez’s expertise has by no means been unsure, which is why, on the age of 27, ‘The Takeover’ nonetheless has time to turn out to be an all-time nice with legacy-defining bouts in opposition to world-class opposition.
The super-lightweight division is stuffed with gifted fighters like Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Jack Catterall and Liam Paro. But, Lopez has beforehand expressed his need to maneuver up in weight and share the ring with Terence Crawford.
Within the meantime, Teofimo Lopez has revealed footage of himself coaching alongside Canelo Alvarez and Eddie Reynoso.
Canelo is making ready to defend the WBC, WBO and WBA super-middleweight championships in opposition to Edgar Berlanga on September 14. However it’s seemingly the Mexican celebrity received’t be utilizing Lopez as a critical sparring companion as a result of Lopez is 5 inches shorter and over 20 kilos lighter than Berlanga.
In reality, the movies posted on social media present Canelo and Lopez partaking in non-contact sparring earlier than taking turns smashing the heavy bag. Due to this fact, one would possibly assume Lopez is flirting with the concept of becoming a member of Canelo’s set-up and dealing with Reynoso. Lopez Sr is nowhere to be seen in both of the clips.
Lopez understands and speaks Spanish, so there can be no language barrier with Reynoso. Plus, Canelo beforehand stating that Lopez deserves the Crawford bout greater than him implies that the Hispanic pair have an excellent relationship.
After all, there was no affirmation from Lopez as as to if he formally plans to work with Reynoso. But some would possibly say that after working together with his father throughout his complete boxing profession, novice and professional, {that a} change is required for Lopez to achieve his full potential.
Till at the present time, Canelo is ranked as probably the greatest pound-for-pound boxers on this planet by Ring Journal. Lopez has dropped out. Because the previous saying goes, ‘iron sharpens iron,’ and Canelo might be the affect Lopez wants to start out acting at his final finest once more.
Moreover, from the skin wanting in, Reynoso is a significantly completely different type of coach to Lopez Sr. It’s not unusual for Canelo to stroll his opponents down. Nonetheless, when Canelo decides to counterpunch, he is among the finest within the sport and a few of that skill should be accredited to Reynoso’s teachings.
Lopez can also be an distinctive counterpuncher, which is why a partnership with Reynoso would possibly work. The one distinction is that he might be taking directions from somebody aside from his dad, and Reynoso is arguably a superior coach.
Nonetheless, Lopez has been extremely profitable beneath his father’s tutelage. So, it stays to be seen if altering trainers will improve Lopez or push him backwards. Alternatively, if he decides to proceed with Lopez Sr, an emphatic efficiency is required in his subsequent combat.