WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s potential title defense against #4 Subriel Matias on March 15th could be shown on regular ESPN, not PPV. That’s good news for fans, who otherwise would be reluctant to dig deep to pay to see this fight.
Lance Pugmire of Boxingscene reports that Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, isn’t excited about placing this fight on PPV due to the piracy problem that is going on. That cuts into the profits for the promoters, making some of the events less worthwhile to be placed behind a paywall.
Lopez vs. Matias: No PPV
What compounds the problem is that Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) and the former IBF light welterweight champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) aren’t PPV fighters. It’s not a fight that is pay-per-view worthy, unfortunately. Matias isn’t a household name in the U.S., and Teofimo has been erratic in his fights in 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 interest in fighting Teo, which is understandable because he’s not a draw. Also, he’s had a string of controversial wins in the last five years that make him risky in the 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 Teo. He looks great and then looks terrible against the opposition, which is designed for showcase purposes. His outside-of-the-ring behavior is odd, with him saying weird things during interviews.
Teofimo needs a good public relations coach to give him talking points for his interviews and control his tendency to be a motor mouth, sounding like he’s coming from left field.
Teo’s Lack Of Appeal
Although Teofimo, 27, is a two-division world champion, he has failed to become a huge attraction due to his loss to George Kambosos, controversial decisions against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin, and lack of fights against big-name opposition.
Lopez has only fought one popular fighter in his nine-year career, Vasily Lomachenko, who he last fought five years ago, in 2020.
The Matchroom-promoted Matias, 32, lost his IBF 140-lb title to Liam Paro, losing a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 last year in Manati, Puerto Rico. Matias didn’t perform well in that loss, getting outboxed and roughed up by Paro. In Matias’ last fight, he stopped Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9th.
Lopez’s Last Five Contests
– Steve Claggett: UD 12
– Jamaine Ortiz: UD 12 [*controversial]
– Josh Taylor: UD 12
– Sandor Martin: SD 10 [*controversial]
– Pedro Campa: TKO 7
Teofimo needs to move up to welterweight and go after one of the world champions, like Brian Norman or Eimantas Stanionis. IBF champion Jaron Ennis reportedly isn’t interested in fighting Lopez, but he might change his mind if he gets his hands on a belt. Ennis is belt-hungry.
If you’re Top Rank, you’ve got to banging your head and wondering how to transform Lopez into a sta. He’s gone downhill since his one big career win against Lomachenko.