Teofimo Lopez announced his retirement following his decisive unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor on Saturday night. Lopez, 25, returned to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, for a WBO junior welterweight title fight with Taylor. After weeks of trash-talk and bad-blood building, Lopez scored a massive victory over Taylor to become a […]
Teofimo Lopez announced his retirement following his decisive unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor on Saturday night.
Lopez, 25, returned to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, for a WBO junior welterweight title fight with Taylor. After weeks of trash-talk and bad-blood building, Lopez scored a massive victory over Taylor to become a two-division world champion. During his post-fight interview, Lopez indicated that he was toying with the idea of retirement. He answered any lingering questions less than 24 hours later, revealing that he would be walking away from the sport despite being one of its brightest up-and-coming stars.
“What a relief! Retired at the Top,” Lopez posted on Instagram. “Thank you Boxing for the amazing life you’ve provided for myself and my entire loved ones! THE DOUBLE-GREATEST.”
Replying to his post, Lopez may have given some insight into why he is calling it quits at the peak of his pro boxing career. “Not here to do deals with the devil. I’m out,” Lopez added.
Teofimo Lopez Wants a Guaranteed Contract Worth Nine Figures
In an interview on The Porter Way Podcast, Lopez revealed that he will be more than willing to step back into the squared circle, assuming Top Rank comes correct with an offer worth no less than nine figures.
“I think the only way you get Teo back is a nine-figure contract deal,” Lopez said. “Because I’ve made ESPN over a $100 million. I’m still getting paid a million dollars to fight while all these other fighters have not even done a quarter of what I’ve done and accomplished in the sport, they’re getting eight, 10, 12, 15 million dollars.
“So obviously I’m the black sheep of the industry and they’re really hurting me on that end. I really want to fix the sport of the boxing world and the corruption that’s going on.”
Top Rank currently has an exclusive deal with ESPN that has been mutually beneficial for both parties while Teofimo Lopez continues to cash checks far below his value. With the sport in desperate need of new and exciting talent, it’s hard to imagine Top Rank and ESPN allowing Lopez to go without attempting to retain his services with a fat bag of money.
If this is indeed the end for Teofimo Lopez, he will retire as a two-division world champion with a record of 19-1 with 13 wins by way of knockout. His lone loss came against George Kambosos Jr. in November 2021. He had since bounced back scoring wins over Pedro Campa and Sandor Martin en route to his title tilt with Josh Taylor.
Teofimo Lopez’s biggest win undoubtedly came in October 2020 when he bested Vasiliy Lomachenko via a unanimous decision inside the MGM Grand.
Bob Arum, a prominent boxing promoter and founder of leading promotion, Top Rank, has said reputed drugs baron and cartel leader, Daniel Kinahan is involved in “nefarious activities of the worst kind” after the Dubliner was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury earlier this month. Arum, who turned 90 years of age […]
Bob Arum, a prominent boxing promoter and founder of leading promotion, Top Rank, has said reputed drugs baron and cartel leader, Daniel Kinahan is involved in “nefarious activities of the worst kind” after the Dubliner was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury earlier this month.
Arum, who turned 90 years of age back in December, revealed he has cut all ties with Kinahan following the alleged cartel leader’s sanctioning by the United States Department of the Treasury earlier this month during a press conference at Dublin City Hall, however, confirmed that he had paid millions of dollars to Kinahan in consultancy fees for recent fights involving WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, against Otto Wallin, Tom Schwarz, and fights against Deontay Wilder.
Earlier this month, Daniel Kinahan, his father, Christopher Kinahan Sr., and his brother, Christopher Kinahan Jr. were all sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, with a bounty of up to $5,000,000 placed on each of the leading member’s for information which leads to the financial disruption of the cartel, or the arrest and conviction of the leading members.
Daniel Kinahan was previously named as the controller and manager of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group
In 2018, Daniel Kinahan was named in the Irish High Court as the controller and manager of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group (KOCG) – a cartel which has been described as transnational and specializes in the trafficking of drugs and weapons.
Daniel Kinahan, along with former professional boxer, Matthew Macklin, founded boxing and mixed martial arts management firm, MTK Global back in 2012, and have represented numerous prominent fights in both sports, including the aforenoted, Fury, and UFC middleweight contender, Darren Till.
When questioned this week about his working relationship with Kinahan despite reports of his involvement with drug trafficking and gangland violence, Arum claimed Kinahan had told him he was a “reformed” man.
“MTK (Global) – we did work with them,” Bob Arum told FightHype.com. “(Daniel) Kinahan had told us that while years ago he may have done things wrong, he was reformed and his involvement in boxing would demonstrate that he was reformed.”
“We have since learned that that isn’t the case, at least as far as the US charges are concerned, which you take very seriously,” Bob Arum continued. “ He’s continued to engage in nefarious activities of the worst kind, which is drug trafficking. So obviously we’ve had nothing to do with Kinahan and MTK for quite some time and indeed I began to suspect that something was wrong a number of months before the US government announcement. And hadn’t talked to Kinahan for a long time before the US announcement.” (Transcribed by the Sunday World)
Tonight (Fri. July 19, 2019) Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ will feature an IBF lightweight eliminator, featuring one of the sport’s hottest prospects. Teofimo Lopez Jr. returns to take on Masayoshi Nakatani from the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Lopez enters the contest undefeated at 13-0 with 11 of his wins coming by […]
Tonight (Fri. July 19, 2019) Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ will feature an IBF lightweight eliminator, featuring one of the sport’s hottest prospects.
Teofimo Lopez Jr. returns to take on Masayoshi Nakatani from the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Lopez enters the contest undefeated at 13-0 with 11 of his wins coming by way of knockout. He takes on Nakatani, who sports an 18-0 record, 12 coming via knockout.
LowKickMMA will be providing you with live coverage of the Lopez vs. Nakatani card throughout the night. Check out the official results below:
IBF lightweight eliminator: Teofimo Lopez Jr. vs. Masayoshi Nakatani
IBF junior welterweight eliminator: Maxim Dadashev vs. Subriel Matias
Middleweight: Esquiva Falcao vs. Jesus Gutierrez
Junior lightweight: Tyler McCreary vs. Jessie Cris Rosales
Middleweight: Tyler Howard vs. Jamaal Davis
Junior middleweight: Dusty Hernandez Harrison vs. Juan De Angel
Heavyweight: Cassius Chaney vs. Joel Caudle
Junior welterweight: Patrick Harris vs. Donald Ward
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has signed heavyweight Tyson Fury to a co-promotional deal to fight on the ESPN platforms. Now it is Deontay Wilder’s turn. World titleholder Wilder is not currently signed to a promoter. And perhaps that’s why Arum promised to send the champion a “tremendous offer” including his anticipated Fury rematch. Wilder’s […]
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has signed heavyweight Tyson Fury to a co-promotional deal to fight on the ESPN platforms. Now it is Deontay Wilder’s turn.
World titleholder Wilder is not currently signed to a promoter. And perhaps that’s why Arum promised to send the champion a “tremendous offer” including his anticipated Fury rematch.
Wilder’s co-manager Shelly Finkel declined to give too many details on the offer. However, he did tell ESPN on Friday (Feb. 22, 2019) he had indeed received an offer from Top Rank for a multi-fight deal for Wilder that would include the rematch with Fury.
“They made an offer. I wrote back that we received it. We will review it and we will respond,” Finkel said. “If we are amenable to the offer, we will be able to get something done. If the terms are amenable to us, something will happen, If not, it won’t.”
Considering The Offer
Finkel explained that he would look the offer over with fellow co-managers Al Haymon and Jay Deas (Wilder’s trainer), as well as the man himself.
“We will all talk it through and then we will make a decision,” Finkel said. “That’s how we do it. But we want the rematch, so that is not the issue.”
Wilder, 33, is from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In the past, he had been aligned with Showtime and Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions. But he has said he is not contractually tied to any network.
With the Wilder and Fury camps nearing a deal, the WBC ordered them to fight next and set a purse bid date. Twice it was postponed. Then came Fury’s signing with Top Rank, leaving the rematch up in the air.
On Friday, Mauricio Sulaiman WMC President said that he has been in communication with each pugilist’s side to see where talks for the rematch stand.
“There will be no further comments until the WBC receives official communication from both sides by Tuesday, Feb. 26th,” Sulaiman said.
There are few occasions where you could get executives from the UFC, Bellator, Golden Boy, and Top Rank in the same room without a full-scale brawl breaking out. But today in Washington, DC, an unprecedented congregation of combat-sports power players joined forces to support a common cause — the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which is being conducted by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.
According to a press release distributed today, the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study was launched in April 2011, and is “focused on developing methods to detect the earliest and most subtle signs of brain injury in those exposed to head trauma, as well as determining which individuals may be more likely to develop chronic neurological disorders.” You can read a little more about the Cleveland Clinic’s work here.
Senators and lifelong boxing-lovers Harry Reid (D-NV) and John McCain (R-AZ) were keynote speakers at today’s press-conference, which you can watch above in its entirety. The list of speakers also included UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Spike TV President Kevin Kay, Bellator lightweight star Michael Chandler, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Top Rank President Todd duBoef, and boxing legend Bernard Hopkins. Collectively, the combat sports promotions in attendance pledged $600,000 to help the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study continue its research for another year. As the press-release explains:
There are few occasions where you could get executives from the UFC, Bellator, Golden Boy, and Top Rank in the same room without a full-scale brawl breaking out. But today in Washington, DC, an unprecedented congregation of combat-sports power players joined forces to support a common cause — the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which is being conducted by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.
According to a press release distributed today, the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study was launched in April 2011, and is “focused on developing methods to detect the earliest and most subtle signs of brain injury in those exposed to head trauma, as well as determining which individuals may be more likely to develop chronic neurological disorders.” You can read a little more about the Cleveland Clinic’s work here.
Senators and lifelong boxing-lovers Harry Reid (D-NV) and John McCain (R-AZ) were keynote speakers at today’s press-conference, which you can watch above in its entirety. The list of speakers also included UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Spike TV President Kevin Kay, Bellator lightweight star Michael Chandler, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Top Rank President Todd duBoef, and boxing legend Bernard Hopkins. Collectively, the combat sports promotions in attendance pledged $600,000 to help the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study continue its research for another year. As the press-release explains:
To date, the study has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years…
Studies suggest a percentage of professional fighters have a higher risk of developing long-term conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), depression and other neurological and neuropsychiatric problems, often at a young age. Currently, there is no way to determine if a fighter has sustained cumulative brain damage from head trauma; the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is working toward identifying risk factors in these individuals.
Researchers measure changes in brain volume, nerve fiber injury and connectivity, and blood flow via MRI scans. Any changes seen on the participant’s MRI will be correlated with their performance on assessments of cognition, behavior, balance and speech. For fighters who demonstrate a relationship between MRI findings and clinical decline, researchers hope to determine whether there are other factors such as genetics, lifestyle characteristics or the amount or type of exposure to head trauma that make them more susceptible to injury.
Preliminary results from the study have already been published or presented at a number of national meetings. Among the promising findings, the study detected changes in the volume of specific brain regions. The connections between certain areas of the brain were detected by MRI scanning in some individuals within as little as a one-year period, suggesting that MRI measures may turn out to be a useful method of tracking brain changes over time in those exposed to head trauma.
Moreover, the study found that exposure to head trauma – using the Composite Index, a formula that includes number of fights, years of fighting and fights per year – correlates with brain volume and cognitive performance. Those with a higher score on the Composite Index are more likely to score lower on cognitive testing. Pending validation over time, this may be a screening tool to identify fighters at higher risk of brain injury.
“We have made great progress in the study so far, and we are continuing to work toward understanding why certain individuals sustain long-term brain injury from repeated head trauma and how we can detect changes early to protect those individuals,” said Charles Bernick, M.D., Associate Medical Director at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and principle investigator on the study. “With the support of the fighting community, our goal is to use this information to improve safety in these sports for generations to come.”
According to Lorenzo Fertitta:
“Nothing is more important to the UFC than the health and safety of our athletes. As the world’s premier MMA organization we have consistently lived up to that commitment to our fighters and we always will. UFC was the first – and remains the only – combat sports organization to provide our athletes with accident insurance coverage for training-related injuries. Today’s announcement is a no-brainer for us, as we continue our commitment to athlete safety. We are proud to join with these other prominent promoters – our colleague and competitors – to support the Cleveland Clinic’s brain health study.
We are encouraged by the early results of the study and we look forward to the final findings of the Lou Ruvo Center’s research, knowing that they will benefit our athletes, as well as athletes from many other sports. Finally, the support shown by Senators Reid and McCain, and many of their colleagues, cannot go unnoticed. They have been true leaders and we thank them on behalf of the UFC, our athletes and our fans.”
Bob Arum, a prominent boxing promoter and founder of leading promotion, Top Rank, has said reputed drugs baron and cartel leader, Daniel Kinahan is involved in “nefarious activities of the worst kind” after the Dubliner was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury earlier this month. Arum, who turned 90 years of age […]