Promoter Bob Arum says he’s interested in Teofimo Lopez moving up to 147 to challenge Brian Norman Jr. for his WBO welterweight title before Teo goes in the direction of a fight against Terence Crawford.
Teofimo Sr. Needs to Agree
Lopez Sr., Teofimo’s father, would need to agree to him facing Norman Jr. (26-0, 23 KOs) because this guy is dangerous. He might be too powerful and tough for Teo, who tends to crumble under pressure.
Lopez, 26, has the size to fight Normal Jr. at welterweight because he’s basically one now. Today, Teofimo looked like a skeleton at thie weigh-in for his fight this Saturday night against journeyman Steve Claggett.
Teofimo looked like a junior middleweight in his recent workouts and should be campaigning at 147 or 154. He probably won’t, though, because he doesn’t have as many advantages in those weight classes as he did at 140. Like Devin Haney, Teofimo owes much of his career success to being bigger than his opponents.
Lopez’s Ambitions
Teofimo (20-0, 13 KOs) has told the media this week that he wants to fight Crawford at 147 or 154. He says he wants the fight with the 36-year-old Bud now because he won’t be fighting much longer.
Lopez said he wants to fight Crawford and then return to the 140-lb division for a fight against Gervonta Davis, which he seems confident of getting, despite Tank not mentioning wanting to fight him.
Teofimo is defending his WBO light welterweight title this Saturday night, on June 29th, against Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. Many fans see the fight as a gimme to make Teofomo look good.
Arum’s Perspective
“We’ve had Lopez all of his career, and I think there are a lot of big fights out there for him, but Claggett is not an easy fight for him,” said Bob Arum to Fighthype when asked about Teofimo Lopez wanting to move up to 147 or 154 to fight Terence Crawford.
“I think that would be a good fight [Crawford] down the line, but the fight we make first is Teofimo against Brian Norman, who is the WBO welterweight at 147.
“I don’t know very much about Claggett. He’s a tough kid. He’ll give Lopez a really good fight. I think Lopez is one of the top fighters today,” said Arum.
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