Teofimo Lopez Calls Out Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz After Successful Title Defense

Teofimo Lopez has named WBA light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz as his next target after successfully defending his WBO 140-lb title last Saturday with a twelve-round decision over Steve Claggett in Miami, Florida.

Lopez Wants ‘Pitbull’ Cruz Next

Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) will need to defend better against ‘Pitbull Cruz than he did against Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs) because the contender hit him hard in their twelve round fight. By the end of the fight, Lopez had swelling over both eyes and it looked like he had been through a fight at the James L. Knight Center.

The scores were 120-108, 120-108, and 119-109.

Pitbull Cruz defends his WBA 140-lb title against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. There is no guarantee that Pitbull will win that fight, but if he does, he would be interested in a fight with Teofimo.

The problem with that fight is that it will be a double-broadcast game featuring Amazon Prime Video and ESPN. That’s not a good thing for any network, so it doesn’t make sense because Cruz vs. Lopez is not a big enough fight.

“I don’t care what I look like. As long as my hand is raised at the end,” said Teofimo Lopez who looked blown away by the media last Saturday night after his victory over busy rival Steve Claggett in Miami.

Arum’s disappointment and Teofimo’s future

“Bob [Arum] I said I did well. He didn’t look very happy. F*** it. I am the only available star for you,” said Teofimo talking about his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank. “You have to deal with it.”

It’s understandable why Arum wouldn’t be happy with the way Teofimo fought Claggett. This was an exhibition fight that should have looked sharp, but he didn’t and was beaten again.

The performance highlighted what many believe to be the case: the 26-year-old Teofimo is not the fighter he once was and does not have the talent to beat the top fighters at 140 or 147 if he moves up in weight. .

Arum spoke this week about wanting Teofimo to move up to welterweight to challenge Brian Norman Jr. for the WBO title. But after Teofimo’s effort against Claggett, Arum should know that if he does that fight, Norman will destroy him and destroy his career or what’s left.

Arum should think about come up with a strategy to Teofimo because he supports his fights, but he does not have the talent or fans to forgive him for continuing to encourage him with gimme.

Fame promoter Arum has to ditch this albatross Teofimo as soon as possible because he can’t swim with sharks. Including Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 23 KOs) would be good to get him out of trouble.

“F*** yes, I’m ready,” said Lopez when asked if he wants to fight WBA light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz next. “I am 26 years old. I’m still learning this game.”

If Teofimo is a chicken and paka that he can go up to challenge Norman Jr. for the WBO welterweight title, Arum needs to put on the best possible match. Keyshawn Davis or Raymond Muratalla would be a great fight for Arum to fight Teofimo, and it helps launch the careers of those two fighters.

Lopez Rebuts Crawford

“Yes, I want to,” Lopez said when asked if he wanted to fight Terence Crawford. “No one will fight like Steve Claggett. There is one fighter who will fight like him a little bit, and he is small, and that is Pitbull Cruz. Besides, no other fighter fights that way at all. They are all boxing.”

There is no chance of Teofimo getting a fight against Crawford because he is fighting at 154, and he is in line for a big money fight with Canelo Alvarez in early 2025, provided he wins his August 3 WBA junior middleweight bout. hero Israil Madrimov.

“Crawford boxes. He doesn’t really back down there. “I do these fights for a reason,” said Lopez, giving reasons for facing Claggett.