Teófimo López

Teófimo Andrés López Rivera (born July 30, 1997) is an American professional boxer. He is the current unified lightweight world champion, having held the IBF title since 2019 and the WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine titles since defeating Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020. As an amateur he represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Teófimo López
Statistics
Real nameTeófimo Andrés López Rivera[1]
Nickname(s)The Takeover
Weight(s)Lightweight
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Reach68 1⁄2 in (174 cm)
NationalityAmerican
Born (1997-07-30) July 30, 1997
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights16
Wins16
Wins by KO12
Losses0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  United States
National Golden Gloves
2015 Las Vegas Lightweight
US Youth National Championships
2013 Reno Lightweight

As of January 2021, López is ranked as the world's fifth best active boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN,[2] Boxing Writers Association of America,[3] sixth by The Ring,[4] eighth by the TBRB[5] and tenth by BoxRec.[6] He is also ranked as the world's best active lightweight by BoxRec,[7] ESPN[8] and the TBRB.[9]

Early life

Lopez was born on July 30, 1997 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Honduran immigrants. His father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr., started training him at the age of 6.[10]

Amateur career

Lopez won the U.S. Olympic Trials[11] but Carlos Balderas had already secured the United States' sole lightweight entry into the tournament as AIBA's World Series of Boxing champion,[12] so Lopez was aware entering the trials that at best he could only qualify as an alternate for Balderas (who lost in the Olympic quarterfinals). Lopez was able to qualify for the Honduran team, where his parents are from, and reached the finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas to earn his place in Rio. Lopez also won the 2015 National Golden Gloves. López competed in the men's lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics representing Honduras, where he was defeated in the tournament by eventual silver medalist Sofiane Oumiha.[1]

Professional career

López signed with Top Rank in October 2016,[13] and made his debut on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas fight in November of the same year.[14] He announced himself to the world stage in December 2018, by beating veteran Mason Menard via a knockout of the year candidate.[15]

In his next fight, Lopez, already ranked #9 by the WBA, #11 by the WBC and #10 by the WBO, faced another boxing veteran in Diego Magdaleno, another fight that ended in a brutal knockout for the Honduran. He attracted some controversy after his exuberant celebration with Magdaleno still down on the canvas.[16][17]

On July 19, 2019, Lopez who was ranked #4 by the IBF at the time, fought undefeated Japanese boxer Masayoshi Nakatani, who was ranked #3 by the IBF in a final eliminator for the IBF World Lightweight title.[18] He won the fight by unanimous decision and went on to challenge IBF titlist Richard Commey. Lopez won the IBF title in spectacular fashion after connecting on Commey with a big right hand, and finishing him with a second round TKO.[19][20]

Unified lightweight champion
Main article: Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teófimo López

In September 2020, Lopez agreed to fight WBO, WBA and WBC (franchise) champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko, on October 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was the first major fight since the COVID-19 pandemic. With no live audience, Lopez beat the Ukrainian by unanimous decision to unify the lightweight division and maintain his unbeaten record.

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
16 fights 16 wins 0 losses
By knockout 12 0
By decision 4 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
16 Win 16–0 Vasyl Lomachenko UD 12 Oct 17, 2020 MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Retained IBF lightweight title;
Won WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles
15 Win 15–0 Richard Commey TKO 2 (12), 1:13 Dec 14, 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. Won IBF lightweight title
14 Win 14–0 Masayoshi Nakatani UD 12 Jul 19, 2019 MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Edis Tatli KO 5 (12), 1:32 Apr 20, 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. Retained WBC-NABF lightweight title
12 Win 12–0 Diego Magdaleno KO 7 (10), 1:08 Feb 2, 2019 The Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC-NABF, WBC-NABF and IBF-USBA lightweight titles
11 Win 11–0 Mason Menard KO 1 (10), 0:44 Dec 8, 2018 Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, U.S. Won vacant WBA-NABA, WBC-NABF and IBF-USBA lightweight titles[21]
10 Win 10–0 William Silva TKO 6 (10), 0:15 Jul 14, 2018 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Won vacant WBC Continental Americas lightweight title
9 Win 9–0 Vitor Jones Freitas KO 1 (8), 1:04 May 12, 2018 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
8 Win 8–0 Juan Pablo Sanchez UD 6 Feb 3, 2018 American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
7 Win 7–0 Josh Ross TKO 2 (6), 1:57 Oct 13, 2017 A La Carte Event Pavilion, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Christian Santibanez UD 6 Jul 7, 2017 A La Carte Event Pavilion, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Ronald Rivas KO 2 (6), 2:21 May 20, 2017 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Jorge Luis Munguia TKO 2 (6), 0:48 Apr 21, 2017 Osceola Heritage Center, Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Daniel Bastien KO 2 (6), 0:39 Mar 17, 2017 The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Francisco Medel TKO 4 (4), 0:58 Feb 24, 2017 Tony Rosa Community Center, Palm Bay, Florida, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Ishwar Siqueiros KO 2 (4), 2:03 Nov 5, 2016 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.

References
  1. "Teofimo Andres Lopez Rivera". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  2. "Teofimo Lopez Jr. turns rankings upside down". ESPN. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  3. "Canelo Alvarez Threepeats As The BWAA's Pound-For-Pound King". Boxing Writers Association of America. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  4. "The Ring P4P". The Ring. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  5. TBRB P4P. "TBRB P4P rankings". Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  6. "Boxrec P4P ratings". BoxRec.
  7. "BoxRec ratings". BoxRec. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  8. "Divisional rankings -- The best top 10 fighters per division". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  9. "TBRB rankings". Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  10. "Teofimo Lopez | Professional Boxer". www.teofimoalopez.com. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  11. "US Olympic Trials - Reno - December 7-13 2015". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  12. "Rio 2016: Carlos Balderas earned 1st spot on boxing team, bypassing Olympic trials". Fox News. December 2, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  13. Rafael, Dan (October 11, 2016). "Top Rank adds 19-year-old Olympian Teofimo Lopez". ESPN. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  14. "Pacquiao Decisions Vargas". The Sweet Science. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  15. "Teofimo Lopez blasts Mason Menard in 44 seconds on Lomachenko-Pedraza undercard". The Ring. December 8, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  16. Christ, Scott (February 3, 2019). "Teofimo Lopez brutally knocks out Diego Magdaleno". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  17. "Lopez vs Magdaleno - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  18. "Lopez vs Nakatani - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  19. Christ, Scott (December 14, 2019). "Commey vs Lopez results: Teofimo Lopez knocks out Richard Commey to win IBF title, says Vasiliy Lomachenko is next". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  20. "News Archive". Box.Live. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  21. Abrams, Marc (December 10, 2018). "Teofimo Lopez Has Star Making Performance In New York City". boxing247.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
Sporting positions
Amateur boxing titles
Previous:
Maliek Montgomery		 U.S. Golden Gloves
lightweight champion
2015		 Next:
Maliek Montgomery
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Ryan Martin		 WBC Continental Americas
lightweight champion
July 14, 2018 – November 2018
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Adrian Estrella
Vacant
Title last held by
Ray Beltran		 WBC-NABF lightweight champion
December 8, 2018 – November 2019
Vacated		 Vacant
Vacant
Title last held by
Devin Haney		 IBF-USBA lightweight champion
December 8, 2018 – November 2019
Vacated		 Vacant
Vacant
Title last held by
Demond Brock		 WBA-NABA lightweight champion
February 2, 2019 – September 2019
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Chris Colbert
World boxing titles
Preceded by
Richard Commey		 IBF lightweight champion
December 14, 2019 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Vasyl Lomachenko		 WBA lightweight champion
Super title
October 17, 2020 – present
WBO lightweight champion
October 17, 2020 – present
The Ring lightweight champion
October 17, 2020 – present
Awards
Previous:
Jaime Munguia		 The Ring Prospect of the Year
2018		 Next:
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
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