Teofimo “The Takeover” López

Teofimo Andres López Rivera Jr. is an American professional boxer of Honduran descent.

He is the current unified lightweight world champion, having held the IBF title since 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring magazine titles since defeating Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020.

As an amateur, he represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

As of June 2021, he is ranked as the world’s-fifth best active boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN and the Boxing Writers Association of America, seventh by The Ring, and tenth by the TBRB.

He is also ranked as the world’s best active lightweight by The Ring, ESPN, and the TBRB.

López was born to Honduran immigrants on July 30, 1997, in Brooklyn, New York.

His father and trainer, Teófimo López Sr., started training him at the age of 6.

López signed with Top Rankin in October 2016 and made his debut on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas fight in November of the same year.

After compiling a perfect 10-0 record, he announced himself on the world stage in December 2018. He did this by beating veteran Mason Menard with a knockout of the year candidate.

In his next fight, López, already ranked #9 by the WBA, #11 by the WBC, and #10 by the WBO, faced another boxing veteran in Diego Magdaleno. This fight ended in another brutal knockout win for López.

López’s winning streak continued, improving to 13-0 with a fifth-round knockout victory against former world title challenger Edis Tatli on April 20, 2019, on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Boxing Profile – Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez – Top 3 fights

IBF Lightweight Champion:

• López vs. Nakatani

On July 19, 2019, López, who was ranked #4 by the IBF at the time, faced undefeated Masayoshi Nakatani, who was ranked #3. This happened in a final eliminator for the IBF world lightweight title.

In the fourth round, López knocked Nakatani down with his right hand, but the referee ruled it a slip. 

The fight marked the first time López had gone 12 rounds in his career; he was awarded a unanimous decision victory with scores of 118-110, 118-110, 119-109. More importantly, this fight set up a clash with IBF champion Richard Commey.

• López vs. Commey

On December 14, 2019, López challenged the IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey.

López spectacularly won the IBF title after connecting on Commey with a big right hand. He then finishes him with a second-round technical knockout.

After the conclusion of the fight, López was joined in the ring by fellow lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, with whom he took a photo.

When asked about his plans for his next fight and a possible unification bout with Lomachenko, López replied: “You guys know who I want,” referring to Lomachenko without explicitly naming him.

Unified Lightweight Champion

• López vs. Lomachenko

In September 2020, López agreed to fight unified WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring champion, Vasyl Lomachenko, on October 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

López defied the odds with a stunning upset victory as he beat the highly-regarded Ukrainian by unanimous decision. This is to unify the lightweight division and maintain his unbeaten record, with the judges’ scorecards reading 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109.

The first seven rounds saw López staying behind his jab and going to the body, with his opponent offering very little in response.

In the second half, Lomachenko started coming out more offensively, landing more punches.

However, in the final round, López landed 50 of 98 punches thrown (51%). This was the most an opponent has landed on Lomachenko in around.

López declined to give Lomachenko a rematch, explaining that “everybody [in Lomachenko’s camp] was being a dick to me, my father. He [Lomachenko] didn’t want to put a rematch clause in our contract.”

In the wake of his victory, López asserts that he is the undisputed lightweight champion, despite not holding the WBC belt.

However, this claim is contested by many boxing analysts and fans. This as the ‘Franchise’ version of the WBC title won by López against Lomachenko lacks recognition from a large portion of the boxing community, including Devin Haney, who is recognized by others as the holder of the legitimate WBC lightweight title.