Teófimo: There is no “bank” for Matías

Sporting a dark vampire look at the Ring Awards on Saturday, Teófimo López says he decided not to fight Subriel Matías because he didn’t want to be a “stool” to help the recently defeated IBF light welterweight champion. He says that Matías was not going to win the fight. It did not help the reconstruction of the former champion.

Additionally, López (21-1, 13 KOs) says he wanted a “greater guarantee” after Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said the fight was not worthy of a PPV. It is unclear what kind of money Teofimo, 27, was looking to get from Top Rank as his “insurance,” but a deal could not be reached.

Teofimo is now sitting on the shelf without a fight, and has already been out of the ring for seven months since his tougher-than-expected victory over journeyman Steve Claggett on June 29 last year.

López says that Matías was the only option that Top Rank gave him. It wasn’t “multiple options,” and he says he “put his foot down” because he’s tired of the “take it or leave it” fights he’s been offered.

“I feel like it’s a time to have bigger and better fights. Matías is trying to recover from the loss to Liam Paro in his home country,” Teófimo López told Fight Hub TV about why he rejected a fight against Subriel Matías. “I think by doing it, why am I going to be the stepping stone for that guy?

“He’s not going to win. Of course not. Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, mentioned that the fight is not worthy of a PPV. I agree. Bob Arum, the president, stated that. Those who were most involved in this situation really wanted to push the PPV.

“I said if that’s the case, I need insurance. ‘Give me a bigger guarantee, and then we could start talking about doing the fight. I’m ready to fight now.’ Things did not go according to terms. They knocked him down. “They said I acted in bad faith in the fight, but in reality they only gave us one option,” Lopez said.

In retrospect, Teofimo made the right decision not to fight Matias (21-2, 21 KO) because there was an excellent chance that he would have lost to him. Matias would thrive against Lopez’s fighting style, and is on another level compared to George Kambosos Jr, who proved to be Teo’s kryptonite.

The New Yorker López cannot handle the fighters who pressure him. We saw it against Kambosos, Jamaine Ortiz, and in the later rounds of his 2020 upset victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.

“There weren’t multiple options for fighters and they didn’t want to do unifications,” Teofimo said of Top Rank. “They didn’t want to pay certain fighters x amount of dollars. I just don’t understand it. It feels like it was shot at me. “I’m going to take it as my opinion as well as my market.”

It’s understandable why Top Rank wouldn’t pay an arm and a leg to put on a unification fight for Teofimo against one of the other champions because it wouldn’t be a PPV. He’s not popular enough and the other 140 champions aren’t big names.

The light welterweight champions

– José ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
–Richardson Hitchins
– Alberto Puello

“You have to think about it as a business perspective, and I’m going to start this year,” Teofimo said. “Wouldn’t you prefer to see it on linear TV open to the public instead of doing PPV the first year of my return in 2025? Why would I charge you? You are there to watch over us. It should be free. ESPN and the network still get their cut, and so do we. Let’s leave it open for everyone.

“I just put my foot down. “I’ve been doing take-it-or-leave-it fights for you guys (Top Rank), and I can’t do that anymore,” Lopez said.