Teofimo Lopez returns to action this weekend in a welterweight title bid against his old pal, Rolly Romero. Throughout the course of the promotion Teofimo would tell the public that their personal relationship has soured a bit in recent time, and it’s precisely for that reason that he has no problem stepping into the ring with Rolly with the intention to do damage. Talking to Fight Hub TV about the fight, check out some of what Teofimo had to say below.
Teofimo on his thought process when the Rolly fight was first presented to him
“The fight was presented to me probably like six weeks after my fight with Shakur. And then there was talks with Zuffa. And then I seen Rolly at the fights, Benavidez vs Zurdo, I think it was unification, and I saw him there and I said like a joke to Rolly because I’m thinking after he came to my locker room [after the Shakur fight] and I just seen something in him I didn’t like. I was like ‘oh, you cocky son of a gun.’ So right away I called my legal team and I said ‘make the fight happen, I want to fight him.’
“He knows I joke, all he did was smile back like and didn’t really say anything back to me, just ignored me…He fooled me [about our friendship] because he kind of like came to my locker room right after my fight at The Garden and all that stuff kind of switched right away from that time to the Benavidez vs Zurdo fight.”
On if he would’ve been against this fight taking place had Rolly not started acting funny towards him
“Yeah, I honestly would’ve [taken] the whole rest of the year off…So that was the real life choice, decision, or defining moment for me.”
On if their personal connection will prevent him from going feral should he have Rolly hurt at some point
“I’d say if I was in the same situation, he would try to finish it…I’ve been too nice, even in our sparrings. So, it’s time to really turn it up on him.”