Norman Jr. To Teófimo: “Go up to 147 and try to take my belt”

WBO welterweight Brian Norman Jr. criticized his Top Rank teammate Teofimo Lopez on social media, reacting to him saying he didn’t want to fight a unification with IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis , when I had the opportunity to face him in November.

Norman Jr. Call

Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) told Teofimo that he is “complaining about money and that he is trying to keep his career alive by talking about “crazy” so that people want to see his fights. Fans “still don’t care” to see it. Norman Jr. then challenged Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) to move up to 147 to try and take his WBO belt.

Lopez’s popularity plummeted from its peak four years ago when he defeated the injured Vasily Lomachenko one-armed in a 12-round unanimous decision on Oct. 17, 2020. Two have done nothing since, beating lesser fighters and facing increasingly worse opposition to the point. where fans no longer mention it.

Teo hasn’t been the same fighter since his fight against Loma, and some fans believe he is already done at 27 years old. The fight with Lomachenko brought out the best in Teofimo, leaving the shell that was lost against George Kambosos Jr., who was given Controversial decision wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.

Lately, Teófimo has started criticizing Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford, who are completely out of his league. Those are fights you have no chance of winning, but even fewer of those fights happen.

If Lopez wanted to reinvent himself and be taken seriously by fans once again, he would accept Norman Jr.’s offer to fight him for his WBO welterweight belt. Capturing that title would give Teofimo a bargaining chip to get a fight against Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs), who is obsessed with winning every welterweight title for some reason. Yo

The money Lopez would make fighting Norman Jr. won’t be huge, but he needs to see the fight as an investment in his future. If he can capture that title, it would open the door to a fight against Boots and possibly some of the other top welterweights, such as Conor Benn.

You didn’t want to fight Boots when you had the chance. All for $$$$… I fought Lomachenko, the number one P4P, and came home with less than $500,000. You don’t believe IN YOURSELF AND THAT’S ALL A FIGHTER NEEDS TO WIN, but hey, good luck on your tune-up. @OfficialBNorman #Boxing

— Teófimo López (@TeófimoLopez) December 19, 2024