Who Won The Weekend? No Debate, It’s Lopez The Great

Anyone choosing otherwise would have gotten a super side eye, and maybe an off the record WTF?!!

When the question was asked, I knew, you knew, we all knew the answer, didn’t we? Teofimo Lopez won the weekend, and the only debate is about by how much.

The NYF Crew weighed in, and yep, it was unanimous.

“Agent Smith (Teofimo) won the weekend as he truly took over “The Matrix,” said Abe Gonzalez.

“In the ring, we saw a high level chess match which also included the battle for space and foot positioning. Teofimo beat the savvy veteran and its as simple as that. The next generation of young fighters also won the weekend. Edgar Berlanga Jr had an eye popping performance while Barboza and Zepeda served up a great fight leading into the main event.  Boxing had a great night on ESPN! Let’s keep that momentum going!”

“It’s Teofimo Lopez in a walk,” said David Phillips. “It’s not just that he beat someone, in Lomachenko, that no one thought could be beat, it’s how he did it–masterfully. It’s one thing in this day and age to win a fight due to the benefit of shaky judging, but no one is arguing that Lopez’s UD wasn’t clear and convincing. If anyone expected that to be the case, I hope they will raise their hands. We need to keep track of the liars out there.”

“Teofimo Lopez won the weekend,” said Kelsey McCarson. “It’s one thing to promise a takeover at the tender age of 23 against an elite pound-for-pound talent. It’s quite another to actually pull it off. Lopez used to be the future. After Saturday night, he’s become the now.”

“I still haven’t been able to watch it, but it seems that Lopez won the weekend by a long chalk,” said Pete Carvill. “So, so many picked Loma to win that even though Lopez was undefeated, it still came as something of a surprise.”

“Teofimo Lopez quite rightly won the fight,” said Chris Glover. “I had it 7-5, could of been 8-4, but he won the fight. Anybody who’s crying over the decision for me is just doing it to get a bit of attention for themselves. Loma is a great, Teo, Senior and Joe Gamache got it right on Saturday night. Big shout outs to them. The Takeover took over, and won the weekend in the Sheriff’s eyes.”

“The obvious answer is Teofimo Lopez Jr. The true answer is Teofimo Lopez Sr., his father and trainer,” said Gayle Falkenthal.

“No one has ever doubted Lopez Jr.’s talents, but plenty have criticized his father’s approach toward training and his game plans. Not this time. The pair beat Vasiliy Lomachenko at his own game in a contest of boxing skills. Bravo to both of them. It certainly saved Lopez Sr.’s job as trainer. Let’s also hope it heals whatever hurts and hard feelings his son harbors toward him due to the often rough, hard truths relationships a trainer must have with his fighter which are bleeding over into the relationship between a father and son as it should exist. Honorable mention to referee Russell Mora. I know some observers cringed seeing his assignment to the bout, but he was a non-factor and didn’t overly involve himself in the fight, quite the reverse.”

“Lopez won the weekend but it’s also a case of Loma losing the weekend just as much,” said Tommy Rainone.

“I know there will be plenty of people saying Teofimo Lopez won the weekend,” said Carlos Toro. “I agree, but I do think Edgar Berlanga should get some love as well. Berlanga was on the biggest stage of his pro career up to this point with a ton of pressure to deliver on the massive hype and he did so with a beautiful 79-second destruction of Lanell Bellows, who had never been stopped or knocked out before this weekend. This kid’s power is the real deal. The jury is still out there on his ceiling as a pro boxer, but he had a star-making performance against Bellows and he gained a lot more fans tonight with this quick win and keeping that first-round KO streak alive.”

“There’s only winner this weekend and that’s the Lopez,’ both father and son,” said Hamza Ahmed. “And I agree completely with what our West Coast General Abe Gonzalez tweeted. There’s no need for Teofimo to further prove himself against Tank, Haney or Ryan Garcia or anyone else. Why should he? He’s a big kid and it’s apparent he can’t stay at 135 any longer without compromising himself at some point. He’s openly discussed moving to 140 before and he’s earned the right to do that simply because he did what the other guys whom I mentioned have failed to do – he dared to be great. Tank Davis has not fought an opponent ranked in the top 10 of either the TBRB or the Ring since Jose Pedraza. That’s over three years ago. Devin Haney is fighting the corpse of Yuri Gamboa and has been awarded the title via email – twice. Ryan Garcia is stepping up big, versus Luke Campbell, but he needs to win to attract any sort of attention. Teofimo can’t stay waiting on these guys forever. Why should he? He’s the man right now and he’s done more in one victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko than what those guys have done over several divisions and years as professionals. If there’s one thing I hope comes from this, it’s that the culture of boxing changes from this moment on. The Lopez’ dared to be great because they believed in themselves and it goes to show how powerful belief is. They believed when everyone else didn’t. And the manner of the performance was simply sublime. I mean, they outboxed the master tactician, the guy ranked as boxing’s best mind who carried with him two gold medals, titles in three divisions and a 396-1 record in the unpaid amateurs – and Lopez made him look …. basic. Ordinary. And to do it for the UNDISPUTED championship?  At the age of 23!? That’s an incredible feat no matter how you look at it.  Both father and son talked a big game and they willed it into existence. Now I hope more guys step up earlier or better, when the times/primes are right and not when the clocks sail by. I hope more fighters take it upon themselves to start rolling the dices and taking life changing gambles because we as boxing fans deserve and demand for the best to fight the best – when it matters. No more ducking or diving or dodging. No more “I’m not ready” or “other side of the street” or “marination.” It’s time to let these young dogs off the leash and help bring forth a much needed culture change in boxing.”