Teofimo Lopez’s potential WBO Light Heavyweight title defense against #4 Subriel Matias on March 15 could be shown on regular ESPN rather than PPV. That’s good news for fans, who otherwise wouldn’t be willing to dig deep to pay to see this fight.
Lance Pugmire of Bokingscene reports that Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is not excited about putting this fight on PPV due to the piracy issue that is going on. That cuts into promoters’ earnings, making some of the events less worthy of being placed behind paivall.
Lopez vs. Matias: No PPV
Compounding the problem is that Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) and former IBF light heavyweight champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) are not PPV fighters. Unfortunately, it’s not a pay-per-view worthy fight. Mathias is not a household name in the US, and Teofimo has been erratic in his fights over the last four years.
For Teofimo to be in a PPV fight, he needs someone popular, like one of these fighters:
– Ryan Garcia
– Devin Haney
– Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Terence Crawford
– Jaron Ennis
None of those guys have shown any interest in fighting Theo, which is understandable since it’s not a draw. Also, he has had a string of controversial wins over the past five years that make him a risky fight. The last thing those guys need is to be on the receiving end of a hometown decision against Lopez.
You just don’t know what you’re going to get with Theo. It looks great and then looks terrible against opposition, which is designed for the window. His behavior outside the ring is strange, while he says strange things during interviews.
Teofim needs a good PR coach to give him talking points for interviews and control his tendency to be a motor mouth, which sounds like it’s coming out of left field.
Theo’s lack of attractiveness
Although Teofimo, 27, is a two-division world champion, he has failed to become a huge attraction due to losses to George Kambossos, controversial decisions against Jamain Ortiz and Sandor Martin and a lack of fights against big names.
Lopez has only fought one popular fighter in his nine-year career, Vasily Lomachenko, who he last fought five years ago in 2020.
Matchroom-promoted Matias, 32, lost his IBF 140-lb title to Liam Paro, losing by unanimous decision in 12 rounds on June 15 last year in Manati, Puerto Rico. Matias did not perform well in that defeat, so Paro threw him out of the pit and made him angry. In Matias’ last fight, he stopped Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9th.
Lopez’s last five contests
– Steve Clagett: UD 12
– Jamaine Ortiz: UD 12 (*controversial)
– Josh Taylor: UD 12
– Sandor SD 10 (*controversial)
– Pedro Campa: TKO 7
Teofimo should move to welterweight and go after one of the world champions, like Brian Norman or Eimantas Stanionis. IBF champion Jaron Ennis is reportedly not interested in fighting Lopez, but could change his mind if he gets his hands on the belt. Ennis is hungry for the belt.
If you’re at the top tier, you have to be scratching your head and wondering how to transform Lopez into what. It has gone downhill since his one big career win against Lomachenko.