WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez is having problems with everyone.
While “The Takeover” has had his former issues with the undisputed two-division champion, Terence Crawford, the 27-year-old seems to have turned his back on his old friend, the two-time undisputed super middleweight champion, Saul Canelo Alvarez.
Before his fight against interim champion Arnold Barboza Jr. in Times Square on May 2, Lopez was due to train alongside Canelo under the supervision of Eddy Reynoso, winner of the 2021 Manager of the Year award.
However, due to logistical problems, Reynoso was unable to train the WBO super lightweight champion, and preferred to stay alongside Canelo, who fought on May 3 against William Scull.
Teofimo’s disappointment with the Canelo Team
Lopez had expressed his disappointment at the time, but now, the 27-year-old seems to have become frustrated.
In a recent Instagram Live broadcast, his fans pressed him on who he would support in the Canelo-Crawford fight in September.
“I’m going to go for Crawford because let’s say he beats Canelo, I have ammunition. So when I fight him, I beat Crawford… I beat Canelo,” Lopez said.
He also commented on not having been able to work previously with Canelo’s team, stating: “Canelo’s team doesn’t want Teofimo. It’s not our fault. It’s what the champion wants”.
Lopez even criticized Canelo for his last fight against Scull, which received heavy criticism for being a very boring fight, as Canelo failed to catch a Scull who constantly ran throughout the fight.
“I don’t want to be heavy, to be caught off guard. I’m a boxer. And a very good one,” Lopez said in an indirect jab at Canelo Alvarez. However, this does not mean that Lopez’s feud with Terence Crawford is over. In fact, recently, the two were at the height of their feud.
The conflictive past between Crawford and Lopez’s team
Bud Crawford was involved in a heated confrontation with a member of Teofimo Lopez’s team during the Garcia vs Romero weigh-in.
In a short viral video, security personnel can be seen stepping in as tensions rose.
Crawford, visibly frustrated, shouted: “Shut up, before you get your ass whooped!” and repeated: “Shut up, bitch!” before they were separated.
The full context of the discussion remains unclear, but the incident suggests a lingering animosity between the two sides despite an apparent truce earlier this year.
In Riyadh, Crawford confronted Lopez about past comments, and Teofimo admitted that he only did it “to promote himself”, which led “Bud” to declare that he no longer needed to “f*** him”.
This dispute originally arose when Lopez downplayed Crawford’s resume and made racially tinged comments such as: “The monkey wants the banana. They are gorillas. I am a lion”. Despite all this drama between the two, they have never been close to fighting.
Despite all these problems, Teofimo said he supports Crawford against Canelo because of Eddy Reynoso’s disdain, but also looking for the possibility of facing him in the not too distant future.
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