WBO welterweight Brian Norman Jr. laid into fellow Top Rank Teofimo Lopez on social media, reacting to him saying that he didn’t want to fight a unification with IBF champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis when he had the chance to face him in November.
Norman Jr’s Callout
Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) told Teofimo that he’s “complaining about money” and that he’s trying to keep his career alive by talking “Crazy” so that people will want to watch his fights. The fans “still don’t care” to see him. Norman Jr. then dared Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) to come up to 147 to try and take his WBO belt.
Lopez’s popularity plummeted from its peak four years ago when he upset the injured, one-armed Vasily Lomachenko in a 12-round unanimous decision on October 17, 2020. Two has done nothing since, beating lesser fighters and facing steadily worse opposition to the point where fans no longer mention him.
Teo hasn’t been the same fighter since his match against Loma, and some fans believe he’s already washed up at 27. The Lomachenko fight took the best out of Teofimo, leaving the shell that was lost to George Kambosos Jr., who was given controversial decision wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.
Lately, Teofimo has begun calling out Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford, who are completely out of his league. Those are fights where he has no chance of winning, but even fewer of those matches are happening.
If Lopez wanted to reinvent himself and be taken seriously by fans once again, he would take Norman Jr. up on his 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 fixated on winning all the titles at welterweight for some reason. I
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, like Conor Benn.
You didn’t want to fight Boots when you had the chance. All because of $$$$ … I fought Lomachenko, the #1 P4P, and returned home with less than $500K. You do not believe IN YOURSELF AND THATS ALL A FIGHTER NEEDS TO WIN, but hey, good luck on your tuneup @OfficialBNorman #Boxing
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) December 19, 2024
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