Teófimo Andrés López Rivera (born July 30, 1997) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He is a former unified

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

world champion, having held the IBF title from 2019 to November 2021, and the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

, WBO, and '' The Ring'' magazine titles from October 2020 until November 2021. As an amateur, he represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics. As of June 2022, López is ranked as the world's Third best active lightweight by ''The Ring'' magazine and the

Transnational Boxing Rankings Board The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is an all-volunteer initiative formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identifying the singular world champion of every divisio ...

, Fourth by BoxRec and fifth by ESPN.

Early life

López was born to Honduran immigrants on July 30, 1997 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His paternal grandfather, a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...

, was born in 1916 and emigrated to Honduras after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. His father, Teófimo López Sr. emigrated to Brooklyn with his mother at age 5. López Sr., started training his son at the age of 6, shortly after moving to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Amateur career

López won the U.S. Olympic Trials but

Carlos Balderas Karlos Zenon Balderas Jr. (born August 24, 1996) is an American boxer who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Personal life Balderas was born on May 24, 1996, in Lompoc, California. He was the first member of h ...

had already secured the United States' sole

entry into the tournament as AIBA's

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

champion, so López was aware entering the trials that at best he could only qualify as an alternate for Balderas (who lost in the Olympic quarterfinals). López was able to qualify for the Honduran team, where his parents are from, and reached the finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas to earn his place in Rio. López also won the 2015 National

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

. López competed in the men's lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics representing Honduras, where he was defeated in the tournament by eventual silver medalist

Sofiane Oumiha Sofiane Oumiha (born 23 December 1994) is a French lightweight boxer. He won silver medals at the 2015 European Games and at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Professional career Oumiha was scheduled to make his professional debut on 6 March 2021, a ...

Professional career

Early career

López signed with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

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 to the world stage in December 2018 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, which ended in another brutal knockout win for López. He attracted some controversy after his exuberant celebration with Magdaleno still down on the canvas. 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 Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO welterweight title since 2018. Previously he held the WBO and '' Ring'' maga ...

vs. Amir Khan at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

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, 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, and he was awarded a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

victory with scores of 118–110, 118–110, 119–109, setting up a clash with IBF champion Richard Commey.

López vs. Commey

On December 14, 2019, López challenged the IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey. López won the IBF title in spectacular fashion after connecting on Commey with a big right hand, and finishing him with a second-round technical knockout. After the conclusion of the fight, López was joined in the ring by fellow lightweight champion

Vasiliy Lomachenko Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko ( uk, Василь Анатолійович Ломаченко, ; also spelled Vasiliy; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes fr ...

, with whom he took a photo with. 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,

, on October 17 at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. It was the first major fight since the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. With no live audience, López defied the odds with a stunning upset victory as he beat the highly-regarded Ukrainian by unanimous decision 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%), the most an opponent has landed on Lomachenko in a round. According to CompuBox stats, Lomachenko landed 141 of 321 thrown (44%), while López landed 183 of 659 thrown (28%). López declined to give Lomachenko a rematch, explaining that “everybody n Lomachenko’s campwas being a dick to me, my father. He omachenkodidn’t want to put a rematch clause in our contract." In the wake of his victory, López asserted that he is the

undisputed Undisputed may refer to: Film * ''Undisputed'' (film), a 2002 action-thriller-drama film ** ''Undisputed'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film * Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, a 2006 American martial arts film * Undisputed III: Redempt ...

lightweight champion, despite not holding the WBC belt. However, the claim was contested by many boxing analysts and fans, 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 Devin Miles Haney (; born November 17, 1998) is an American professional boxer. He is the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBC title since 2019 and the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and ''Ring'' titles since June 2022. As of ...

, recognized by others as the holder of the legitimate WBC lightweight title.

López vs. Kambosos Jr.

López's first defense of his unified lightweight championship had been scheduled for June 5, 2021 against undefeated contender

George Kambosos Jr George Kambosos Jr (born 14 June 1993) is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and '' The Ring'' lightweight titles from 2021 to June 2022. As of September 2022, he's ranked as the world's number one lightweight by ...

, before being delayed multiple times due to complications involving López testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and disputes over the venue of the fight. The fight had gone to purse bids which was won by

Triller The trillers are a group of passerine birds belonging to the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae partially making up the genus '' Lalage''. Their name come from the loud trilling calls of the males. There are about 12 species that usually exist ...

with a winning bid of over US$6 million, leading to a fallout between López and

Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...

, head promoter at

. On October 6, it transpired that the IBF had found Triller in default of its contract obligation to stage the fight, and that its rights would be awarded to the second highest bidder, Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, meaning that the fight will be shown live exclusively on the streaming service

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

. Despite Kambosos entering the bout as a 13 to 1 pre-fight betting underdog, he knocked down the champion in the first round of the fight. Despite returning the favor by knocking down Kambosos in the tenth round, López ultimately lost the bout via split decision. One judge scored the bout 114–113 to López, while the other two judges scored it 115–112 and 115–111 for Kambosos Jr.

Personal life

On April 23, 2019, López married his wife Cynthia López, who is originally from

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. They first met on a

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

flight from New York City to Las Vegas shortly after López's victorious 9th pro fight against Vitor Jones Freitas, on which Cynthia was a flight attendant. Shortly after marrying, they spent their honeymoon vacation in Greece. On February 12, 2021, López used his social media platforms to speak up about injustice and stand in support with victims of racial violence, issuing a message in support of Asian communities around the world in light of Lunar New Year and continued increasing anti-Asian racism in 2021. López's native language is English, and he also can understand and speak Spanish. On June 15, 2021, López tested positive for

, leading to the postponement of his fight with George Kambosos Jr.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Teófimo López
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Toprank.comTeófimo López - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Teofimo 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn American people of Honduran descent Honduran male boxers Olympic boxers of Honduras Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Boxers from New York City National Golden Gloves champions Lightweight boxers International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Organization champions The Ring (magazine) champions World lightweight boxing champions