Teofimo Lopez talks dethroning Lomachenko and becoming ‘the king of 135’

Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez goes 1-on-1 with Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole to break down his title fight vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko and what’s next as the newly crowned king of the lightweight division.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey folks. I am Kevin Iole. Welcome to Yahoo Sports. And one of my favorite guys over the last couple of years to interview-- saw him in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, didn't have the kind of smile on his face that he has right now. But 2017, Yahoo Sports Prospect of the Year, 2018 Yahoo Sports Prospect of the Year, and now, the 2020 undisputed lightweight champion of the world-- Teofimo Lopez. Champ, how does that feel to hear that?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: It's still-- still hitting me, man. It's surreal, but definitely, it was worth everything. 18 years and continuing, and counting.

KEVIN IOLE: Pretty-- pretty incredible run that you've been on, and I think an incredible performance. I think a lot of people thought you could win the fight, but I think most people thought if you're gonna win the fight, you're gonna hit him with something big and knock him out. You went in there and outboxed him from beginning to end of the fight. Was that the game plan all along? Or is that something that you just take what happened?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: I just took what was happening at the time. I seen that Loma had a game plan, and that they had a-- like, a certain game plan that I wasn't gonna fall into. And I noticed that, and I spoke with my head coach-- who you know, my father-- and I told him, I was like, they're trying to set me up. They're trying to take me to deep waters. And it was like, just-- don't worry about it. I got this. I was like, don't worry, I know what he's trying to do. I'm gonna still stay composed and keep doing what I've gotta do. And then-- and earn the rounds, and win the rounds that I need to win.

KEVIN IOLE: I should tell you this. I talked to your father. Just he and I were standing there in the press room before you got in. And he had told me about the pyramid, and he was trying to explain what the pyramid is. And then he was trying to explain the shifting with your punching power. And so let's start there.

He had told me before the fight that in the Olympics and your amateur career, you weren't really a hard puncher. But then in the pros, he kind of worked with you to develop your punching. Explain sort of how you were able to go from, as an amateur, a guy your father says wasn't a hard hitter, to, in the pros, one of the hardest punchers there is.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Um, I think, a lot of it, man, is just upper body strength. A lot of working on our legs as well. You know, keeping the strength on our legs and a lot of footwork as well. We always had that in us. And then I think as I got older, you know, and the man-- I started maturing more on that end, you know. So I think that definitely took a-- took a big leap in my career for my knockout power. I've always-- was able to-- I was always precise with my shots. But then, you know, 8 ounces and starting to hit hard with them ended up making a bigger difference.

So, you know, it's just been-- just working on different things, whether it was muscle-ups, just things like that. Working on things for my shoulders, things that you really need as a boxer, forearms and stuff like that. So we worked on a lot of things to keep that going. And I think eventually it was gonna kick in, and they finally did, you know. And it's only getting better, you know. This is just the beginning. We're not even where I need to be at, yet.

KEVIN IOLE: I thought early in the fight-- you know, as I said in the open, you boxed beautifully-- but I thought your power was a factor because it seemed like he wasn't willing to engage with you as much. You know, in the first six rounds of the fight, he only threw 58 punches. Do you feel like, you know, he felt your power early and was wary and that's why it took him so long to get going?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Oh no, absolutely. That was our momentum. That was what we wanted to do, was let him feel my jabs, different types of jabs, fast jabs, hard jabs. You know, some that-- that gave him a little-- you know, hey, every time you're coming in, you're gonna get hit, you know, type of reaction. And let him feel that, you know. You're coming in to-- that's where the pyramid comes in, what my father was talking about.

My coach, he was telling me, know you, just stay like that. Just having that distance. And we know that he's short, so he needs to come in, and he needs- he needs to jump in to get those shots. So I was ready for-- I was just pretty much countering and working on getting the body. And which it was working a lot. I noticed in I think the fifth round, or somewhere in between from the fifth or seventh, and I hit him to the body with a right uppercut. And he just started-- he grabbed, he tucked in real tight, and he started moving. And he started moving and I was like, oh, I hurt him.

But the thing was, it's just-- it's very hard trying to keep that pace going with someone that just keeps going on the run, is always on the run. So, you know, he had his moments. But the overall factor was I won that whole fight, you know what I mean. And-- and we did what we had to do, you know. I think that he thought he would take us to the deep waters and then just gas us out. But I told you guys, I'm a shark.

KEVIN IOLE: Surprise surprise. You know what I thought-- or what is interesting now, Teofimo, is that, you know, you were a big name in the sport. But not-- you didn't really cross over outside the sport. This fight, you know, 3 million fans watching your show, huge rating. I mean, I know you're happy about that. All of a sudden now you go from being a big fish in the small little boxing pond to, you know, you're gonna be a big fish out there.

I saw LeBron James tweeted to you, and a lot of big celebrities. How do you keep your head space where it was? You know, people don't know you. You're a humble, respectful guy. Everybody likes you, or most-- you know, I guess Lomachenko doesn't like you-- so most people like you. How do you keep your head space that same way with all the people that are all of a sudden now gonna start coming at you?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Um, the same thing, you know. I want more belts, I want more things, and I want to accomplish more. I have more goals, bigger goals to achieve, you know. This was just one part of it to get me to the next level, you know. And we know that. I'm always gonna stay hungry. And I think that's the whole thing is just the fact that just because you got it now, doesn't mean that someone else can't take it from you, you know. So we keep that in our mind always.

My father always taught me that way, you know. And just having a great support team, and being able to do what I did this past Saturday, you know, without a crowd, and just with the least experience that people will I will bring out into the game, and just to shock the world and show them that I can also box. And I'll box the best pound for pound boxer in the world. You know, at my age, man, we are accomplishing a lot of things. This is just the beginning.

KEVIN IOLE: No doubt, no doubt. You're right there. You know, there's a lot of options. You know, Bob Arum mentioned Ryan Garcia Luke Campbell winner. You know, I know Kambosos and Lee Selby fight. You mentioned Saturday, and your father said he'd like to see you fight at 140, potentially going up to fight the winner of Taylor and Ramirez. I mean, to me that's the significant fight in boxing. That's the one I would like to see you win.

But I saw Devin Haney, who you call an email champion. He referred to you as an asterisk champion. You know, what's next? I mean, where do you go from here? Is Devin Haney the guy you want? Or is there anybody that in your mind is the more significant opponent?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: I think that these guys, they need me, you know what I mean. I don't need them. And we did that, you know. We are the kings at 135. We own, and we run 135. You know, so I think a lot of them are just-- they just want to get a piece of the pie, you know, now. And I think that-- that's not gonna work, you know what I mean. They have to do their part.

We did our part. We got the job done. We did things that they didn't want to do. But we stepped up to the plate, and to-- and chose to do that. And we got the victory. And not only that, you know, so much more to it. I think that the best thing best that I would love to do is unify for 140, and collect another to be the first two-time, well, back-to-back undisputed world champion in a four belt era. So I think that will be--

KEVIN IOLE: That's guaranteed Hall of Fame, right there, dude. If you do that, they might as well just start writing that plaque up for you.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Absolutely. I mean, that's what I look forward to. So the winner out of Taylor and Ramirez, I think that will be awesome for the fans. And hopefully we will be able to have some fans for 2021.

KEVIN IOLE: I wonder what you think. You know, obviously you did a huge accomplishment the other day. And boxing fans turned out. So when you saw that rating, do you think that that says to other fighters, you know, forget marinating, forget, you know, go-- you know, you were aggressive all the way through. You fought guys with good records when you had less than 10 fights. Now you beat a guy who was 396-1 as an amateur, and 14-1 as a pro. And you beat him comprehensively. Do you feel like you set aside for other fighters what they have to do?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: I mean, that's what we were hoping for. I mean, that's what we are shooting for. You know, this is the takeover. It's a new-- it's about influencing the new generation. And I'm-- and I'm the leader, you know. I'm the captain of the ship. So, you know, I think that we finally did that. You know, I think that-- I definitely put on a new wave for the new generation to step up to the plate. And instead of marinating anything, just take the fight that you need to take to become, you know, the all time best in your division. So I'm really looking forward, to that and I hope that we influence others, like the young ones out there, and the new generation to-- to push on that.

KEVIN IOLE: Gervonta Davis is across the street. He's fighting Leo Santa Cruz in a couple of days. Is he an opponent that you think he would see down in the future? And do you think-- how do you compare Gervonta as the lightweight to all the other guys, you know, Haney, and Ryan Garcia, et cetera? You know, is Gervonta at the top of the list in terms of talent other than yourself, you think?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: He's-- honestly, I feel like they haven't had-- they haven't shown enough yet, I think to-- not just to me, though, I think just in general for the boxing fans. I mean, the only thing that we've seen is Tank go the distance with a washed out Gamboa. Now we're about to see Devin Haney go in the ring with him-- with Gamboa. You know, now we have Tank fighting and facing Leo Stanta Cruz.

I just think that if the better competition kicks in and we see what they could do when adversity hits them, then I think that's when we end up realizing, OK, we can make a fight happen. Because I need-- you need-- you need two partners to make a good dance, you know. So, you know, we did our part. And I think now is just seeing what these guys do next. We can't overlook Leo Santa Cruz. We can't look over Luke Campbell. We can't look over Gamboa, whatever these guys-- whoever they're fighting. So they've got to worry about their guys first before they step in the ring with me.

KEVIN IOLE: I want to-- I'll end just with two other questions. So first, I don't know if you saw it today, the news broke. I spoke to the surgeon, Dr. Neil ElAttrache, who's one of the top surgeons in the world. And he said that he had operated on Lomachenko last night, that he had a shoulder injury. Did you notice anything in the fight? Did you have any sense in the fight that he was injured? Or did you feel at any point when you hit him and maybe he reacted?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: It's a fight. I think everybody knows if you're a fighter, or an athlete just in general, you're not 100% going into a fight. You know, I wasn't 100% going into this fight. I had minor injuries, and I'm actually gotta get-- I gotta get checked out now because of it. Going into this fight.

But you know what? A true champion-- I don't make no excuses, you know. That's part of it in this and everything. You're gonna get hurt in doing what you do, contact sport or anything like that. So you're never gonna be 100% going into a fight. So for them trying to use and pull that card on-- on us, to say that that's the reason why, I think that I feel pity for him.

KEVIN IOLE: And last thing I want to ask you, you know, you had a great press conference. I thought the ending was a little strange. And I want to ask you about that ending. You know, you kind of alluded to people being against you, and the media being against you. And to me, like, everything I've seen, everybody-- you know, you get guys praising you, and you know talking about how good you are. What were you referencing? Because you were kind of giving a vague reference. But what was it that you were referencing when you said that on Saturday?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Uh, the only thing, man, is just I'm just a fighter that's earning his respect. Give me my respect. I mean, I'm the youngest--

KEVIN IOLE: But who hasn't given you your respect? Like, have I not given you respect? Who hasn't given you respect?

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: Uh, just, you know, right now, I think honestly people are more in shock of what I did, and how easy I made it-- how easy I made it look compared to what they thought it would be. So I think that the fact that they're trying to downsize, or downplay, any type of thing, making it seem like it was a draw, or any type of thing. That's the thing that I hate about decisions, is that everyone has an opinion about the decision and the score cards. Now the score cards are out of my hands. What I do, though, is what I do. You know what I mean? And everybody knows-- at least everyone I know for a fact-- and I knew I won. But everybody knows that the winner was me.

KEVIN IOLE: There's no question. No question.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: There was no question about it. Now, whether people wanna talk about the score cards, that is not my job. I did my part. So if they want to scream, or [BLEEP] about somebody else, do it to the judges if you want. I did my part. We came out there, I said I was gonna come out victorious, and we did that. You know, and we made history. So I think that's the-- the main thing is just honestly, don't downplay the fact that I just made some big things happen right now. You know what I mean. And I just said-- I just put on for the new generation. So if anything, instead of trying to curse at me, or bash me, you should be thanking me. That goes to everyone.

KEVIN IOLE: OK, well I haven't cursed or bashed at you. And I'm not gonna do it now because you were awesome on Saturday, and you've been awesome throughout your career. And I-- and I have been really thankful for everything you have done. And I love to see fighters step up and take challenges. So I congratulate you. And I also congratulate Vasiliy Lomachenko because he did not have to fight you, and he did. And so I congratulate both you guys. Teofimo Lopez, undisputed champ, god bless. Thank you so much. You got it, Kevin. Thank you my man. And the takeover.