Teofimo Lopez is hoping an impressive win over Steve Claggett in Florida this week is just another stop on a busy 2024 journey.
Lopez has identified activity as being a key component of his career moving forwards, keeping his skills sharp and keeping his name in the public domain by staying busy.
Lopez is 20-1 (13 KOs) and the 26-year-old last boxed in February, scoring a lacklustre decision win over a reluctant Jamaine Ortiz.
His fight against Claggett, who is 38-7-2 (26 KOs), is designed to generate excitement, one way or the other. It is for Lopez reignite the momentum in his career he had last June coming-off his decisive win over Josh Taylor in New York to claim the WBO junior welterweight title.
At the James L. Knight Center in Miami Beach, Claggett, a 35-year-old from Calgary, is the man charged of bringing out a different version of Lopez to the one on display against Ortiz.
Lopez admitted that fighting four times a year is now a priority, and he hopes to be out again in September and December.
“People have got to understand it’s about productivity, it’s about staying active and that only brings the better version out of myself,” Lopez explained. “We go back to my career of 2017, 2018 I was fighting four or five times in that year, sometimes even six, so imagine… And look how much I was better better, better, better.”
There was one fight in 2019, one in 2020, one in 2021, two in 2022 and just one last year. But Lopez also still wants to be tested, and Terence Crawford remains at the top of his wishlist.
“As the competition goes and gets tougher, these are the things… This is why you see all these other fighters, they look phenomenal but what class of fighters are they facing? Just because this one time I’m doing something similar to their degree, people shouldn’t complain,” he said of facing Claggett. “I’ve always faced the toughest fighters in the world, including Josh Taylor who at that time was an undisputed world champion [Taylor lost three belts out of the ring], and undefeated, beat everyone in that weight division at 140-pounds.
“Now we go into this part where we are just trying to stay active. I spoke to the lawyer Jeremy [Koegel] of Top Rank. I spoke to the team, I spoke to everyone at Top Rank and said, ‘Listen, I just want three-four fights this year, get me active. If we can’t get these unification fights going on, if we can’t get these other champions to want to face us because they have their own agendas, they have their own plans with other fighters from different networks, and different promoters, then just get me in the ring and fighting’.
“Because that’s the most important part. Everyone complains that I don’t fight this guy, I don’t fight that guy, and when I do, they’re looking for somebody else. All I’m saying now at this point is just staying active and feeding my family with this and giving the fans what they want, and that’s entertainment.”
Lopez is in that rich mix between 135 and 140, and he’s been the top dog at both weights, and fans will clamor for him to fight the likes of Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney before he calls it a day. Claggett was condemned as a poor choice by many, but for Lopez there’s a method behind it, and it goes back to staying relevant and active.
“Now we’re just picking things back up,” he added. “Doesn’t mean I’ve lost what I’ve been doing, I’m not even in my prime yet, so imagine not even being in my prime and the amount of productivity I’ve been having after Covid. I’m happy for this new transition. And this guy is coming to fight. Steve Claggett is no pushover. He’s No. 1 in all of Canada and top 20 in my weight division, so I look forward to a great fight and showing everyone that I’ve still got it.”