With his upcoming welterweight title opportunity just around the corner, Teofimo Lopez talks to the media about his fight against Rolly Romero while also touching on the recent drama stirred up with his father. Check out some of what Teofimo had to say with the full video interview in the link at the bottom.
Teofimo on Rolly saying he plans to walk him down
“It’s going to be an exciting fight. He wants it just as bad as I do. He’s defending his world title, he had a huge upset that he made on Ryan Garcia in Times Square. So, yeah, whatever he plans
on doing, we’re ready for anything and everything. This is what we do.”
On what’s changed from his last fight to this one
“I think the preparation. Preparation and the mental stability of the strength that I needed from all that. So, I went back to the drawing board and really just worked on my technique, most importantly.”
On whether he expects his power to show at 147
“I believe that it’s that time…I’m at the weight that I should’ve been a year ago and now it’s either I put up or shut up.”
On what he’s done differently in camp this time
“We did track work a lot this time around. Usually when we do track it helps my reflexes, it helps a lot of different things. So I think that was the main thing. We didn’t do that enough in the Shakur fight. And then the preparation, the mental comeback. It’s really like a great reboot and a restart of everything. So it’s like the spirit of the phoenix, we’re just rising from our ashes.
“When I was at 140 I didn’t really have anymore ventures or goals that I really wanted to accomplish. I feel like after the win over Josh Taylor that was like a stamp for me. So now at ‘47, I have this vision that’s stuck on me and I’m so focused on it that I know that I can make that happen. I know it’s in the grasp of my hands and it starts August 22. But for this, this is just an apology to myself…for not trusting myself enough, not going with my gut.”
On the public spat he had with his father during a recent interview
Teofimo Sr: “At the end of the day, man, that was the best thing that could’ve happened to us. That loss is going to get us ready to take over everything in the game of boxing. My son is going to show up on August 22. Everything with him is mental, he’s in the right place right now and we’re here to take over. He’s going to be undisputed in less than two years, I’m saying it right now.”
Tefimo Jr: “I just wanted to show the authenticity that it is…It’s a struggle to get here and I just wanted them to see how it really is and I decided to do that on the Mr. Verzace podcast with my father. [My father] wanted to talk about it later but everybody needs to see that now, see what it really is and what it takes. I’m always going to ride with him, he’s going to ride with me, and we’re going to have those moments.”
