Sunday Convo: Is Teofimo Lopez Boxing’s Greatest Showman?

That POV was not shared by ESPN analyst sub-Chris Algieri, who started the first half of the bout giving the Canadian Claggett, a winner of nine straight coming in, more credit than he was due. The loser, age 35, did his usual solid job of being aggressive, busy, in your face, and pesky. That’ll work against good guys, the Marcos Gonzalez’, Carlos Sanchez’ et all–but not so against a pugilist/specialist like Lopez.

Lopez Has Been Consistently Inconsistent

Teo is a funny one–his standing in the game gets debated heavily, because he is a boom or bust boxer. He will stand out (vs Richard Commey, Vasiliy Lomachenko), then stink out the joint, for what his skill set promises (vs George Kambosos). He toys with lesser grade talents (Pedro Campa) but doesn’t handle foes like someone anointing himself “The Takeover” czar (vs Sandor Martin, Josh Taylor) should. And he draws critiques when folks expecting all-rounds mastery see him making mistakes, as was evidenced in his last outing, a rugged go against Jamaine Ortiz.

In short, Teofimo does draw attention, and it’s interesting, I see that at 26, he is comfortable with all of that.

That became clear to me when ESPN/Top Rank showed Mark Kriegel did his Christopher Walken style querying of Teo, and no nonsensically put him on the spot for not cutting off the ring against the truly tricky Ortiz. Lopez didn’t bristle, he sorta spun, but not in a desperate way. (Resisted the temptation, almost fully, to insert remark about how Lopez is better at that than Team Biden is, trying to tell us the CIC did badly Thursday because he had a cold.)

Best Positioned of the Four Kings

Teo’s explanation sounded plausible, and at that moment I realized this: of the “new four kings,” Teofimo Lopez is perhaps in the best position, mixing professional and personal lives.

Ryan Garcia is clearly in some sort of stage…Devin Haney is having a hard time grappling with the new reality after having his “0 “ripped from him…Gervonta Davis is a heavy talent, but cherry picking will hold him back from getting across the board respect from all the demos of fans. Shakur Stevenson was a fifth king, in the eyes of hardcores two years ago, and these days he is another one adrift of identity. Teofimo is the one who had a blast during the fight week, and in the ring.

Now here comes a but…

This point is made in conjunction with the OTHER main event offered to fight fans Saturday, the one from DAZN/Matchroom: the Bam Rodriguez-Gallo Estrada tango. Bam plated “Showman” talents and “Takeover” level acumen in dispatching the Mexi-vet, a true-blue stud in the space.

Lopez, on the other hand, gleefully did his thing, but without giving the watchers that payoff pitch. In rounds seven and eight, he poked at it, turning up the heat on Claggett (now 38-8-2). That player is adept at using offense as defense, and he came to Miami having been stopped just once, since going pro in 2008.

Power Isn’t A Grade, It Is What It Is

Is it quibbling to wish/want more from Lopez? Sure. Is it warranted? Also sure; “The Greatest Showman” knows the recipe calls for the same ingredients every time. And guess what?  The power isn’t present as Teo moves up the weight/skills ladder. I think maybe Algieri hasn’t quite adjusted to who present day Lopez is, because the New York fighter/analyst–who by the way is a Top 5 live fight analyst right now–in early rounds worried if Lopez could match the pace of Claggett. And he did, and then some.

Bottom lining it: Lopez comes off as having his head screwed on straight. He is a wiz now at playing the political/posturing game in between fights, and seems also to be comfortable with his actual arsenal.

Who Is Next For Teofimo?

So, next for the victor? The risk reward offerings at 140 are not optimal. No one is pining for a unification tourney. Lopez told ESPN after the hand raise that the cut to 140 is hard, maybe 147 next makes sense. Dollars, too, it could go without saying. Names like Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, those fit this Lopez, a smart showman who, it feels like, could be hitting a physical/mental/emotional prime time.

Give A Grade 

Lopez gets a B+, no A because he didn’t do the Showman’s duty, the stoppage. Two of his last nine outings have produced early endings, his pop is what it is. No “A” because Claggett is respectable, but no all-star. Still room to improve for this Showman