Lopez was born to Honduran immigrants on July 30, 1997, in Brooklyn, New York. His paternal grandfather, a Spaniard from Ávila who was born in 1916, emigrated shortly after the Second World War, going to Brazil first before settling in Honduras.[6] His father, Teofimo Lopez Sr. left Honduras with his mother at age 5, settling in Brooklyn.[7] The family eventually relocated to Florida, where Lopez Sr. first started training his son at the age of 6.[8]
Amateur career
Lopez won the U.S. Olympic Trials[9] but Carlos Balderas had already secured the United States' sole lightweight entry into the tournament as AIBA'sWorld Series of Boxing champion,[10] so Lopez was aware entering the trials that at best he could only qualify as an alternate for Balderas (who lost in the Olympic quarterfinals). Lopez 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. Lopez also won the 2015 National Golden Gloves. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics representing Honduras. where he was defeated by the eventual silver medalist Sofiane Oumiha.[2]
Professional career
Early career
Lopez signed with Top Rank in October 2016,[11] and made his debut on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas fight in November of the same year.[12] 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.[13]
In his next fight, Lopez, 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 Lopez. He attracted some controversy after his exuberant celebration with Magdaleno still down on the canvas.[14][15]
Lopez'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 vs. Amir Khan at Madison Square Garden, New York City.[16]
IBF lightweight champion
Lopez vs. Nakatani
On July 19, 2019, Lopez 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.[17] In the fourth round, Lopez knocked Nakatani down with his right hand, but the referee ruled it a slip. The fight marked the first time Lopez had gone 12 rounds in his career, and he was awarded a unanimous decision victory with scores of 118–110, 118–110, 119–109, setting up a clash with IBF champion Richard Commey.[18]
Lopez vs. Commey
On December 14, 2019, Lopez challenged the IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey. Lopez 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, Lopez was joined in the ring by fellow lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, with whom he took a photo with. When asked about his plans for his next fight and a possible unification bout with Lomachenko, Lopez replied, "You guys know who I want," referring to Lomachenko without explicitly naming him.[19][20]
In September 2020, Lopez agreed to fight unified WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko, on October 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was the first major fight since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With no live audience, Lopez 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.[21] The first seven rounds saw Lopez 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, Lopez 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 Lopez landed 183 of 659 thrown (28%).[22]
Lopez declined to give Lomachenko a rematch, explaining that “everybody [in Lomachenko’s camp] was being a dick to me, my father. He [Lomachenko] didn’t want to put a rematch clause in our contract."[23] In the wake of his victory, Lopez asserted that he is the undisputed lightweight champion, despite not holding the WBC belt.[24][25] However, the claim was contested by many boxing analysts and fans, as the 'Franchise' version of the WBC title won by Lopez against Lomachenko lacks recognition from a large portion of the boxing community,[26][27][28] including Devin Haney, recognized by others as the holder of the legitimate WBC lightweight title.[29][30]
Lopez's first defense of his unified lightweight championship had been scheduled for June 5, 2021, against undefeated contender George Kambosos Jr, before being delayed multiple times due to complications involving Lopez testing positive for COVID-19,[31] and disputes over the venue of the fight.[32][33] The fight had gone to purse bids which was won by Triller with a winning bid of over US$6 million, leading to a fallout between Lopez and Bob Arum, head promoter at Top Rank.[34] 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'sMatchroom, meaning that the fight will be shown live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN.[35][36] Despite Kambosos entering the bout as a 13 to 1 pre-fight betting underdog,[37] he knocked down the champion in the first round of the fight. Despite returning the favor by knocking down Kambosos in the tenth round, Lopez ultimately lost the bout via split decision. One judge scored the bout 114–113 to Lopez, while the other two judges scored it 115–112 and 115–111 for Kambosos Jr.[38]
Light welterweight
Lopez vs. Campa, Martin
For Lopez's eighteenth professional fight, he moved up to the light welterweight division. In his first bout at the weight class on August 13, 2022, he successfully rebounded from his loss against Kambosos by defeating Pedro Campa via seventh-round technical knockout after a dominant performance.[39]
Lopez would return on December 10, 2022, against European light welterweight champion Sandor Martin in his second bout at the 140 lb limit. The first round saw an aggressive start from Lopez, where Martin busted his nose during a clash of heads. Martin was able to knock Lopez down in the second round with a check right hook. The fight was competitive, resulting in a split decision after the final bell, with judges' scorecards of 97–92 and 96–93 in Lopez's favor, and 95–94 in Martin's favor.[40] Lopez was caught on camera in the ring post-fight candidly questioning his team: "Do I still got it?"[41]
WBO and The Ring light welterweight champion
Lopez vs. Taylor
On April 8, 2023, it was officially announced that Lopez would attempt to become a two-division world champion and challenge undefeated WBO and The Ring light welterweight champion Josh Taylor on June 10 at the Hulu Theater in New York City. He won the fight by unanimous decision, becoming a 2 division world champion.[42] On June 12, Lopez announced his retirement from boxing.[43]
Lopez vs. Ortiz
On February 8, 2024 in Las Vegas, Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by unanimous decision and made the first successful defence of WBO light welterweight title.[44]
Personal life
On April 23, 2019, Lopez married his wife Cynthia Lopez, who is originally from Nicaragua. They first met on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York City to Las Vegas shortly after Lopez's victorious 9th pro fight against Vitor Jones Freitas, on which Cynthia was a flight attendant.[45] Shortly after marrying, they spent their honeymoon vacation in Greece.[46]
On February 12, 2021, Lopez 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.[47]
Lopez's native language is English, but he also understands and speaks Spanish.[48]
