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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He has held multiple world championships in two

weight classes Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports including Rowing (sport), rowing, Weightlifting#Weightlifting sports, weight lifting, and especi ...

, including the

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO) and ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

junior welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

titles since 2023; previously he held the unified

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

championship, as well as the ''Ring'' title, between 2019 and 2021. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, Lopez represented

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Early life

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

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His paternal grandfather, a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

from

Ávila Ávila ( , , ) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

who was born in 1916, emigrated shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, going to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

first before settling in

. His father, Teofimo Lopez Sr. left Honduras with his mother at age 5, settling in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The family eventually relocated to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where Lopez Sr. first started training his son at the age of 6.

Amateur career

Lopez won the U.S. Olympic Trials but

Carlos Balderas Carlos Zenon Balderas Jr. (born August 24, 1996) is an American boxer who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Personal life Balderas was born on June 24, 1996, in Lompoc, California. He was the first member of his family to be born in the Un ...

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 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 The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the

representing Honduras. where he was defeated by the eventual silver medalist

Sofiane Oumiha Sofiane Oumiha (born 23 December 1994) is a French lightweight Boxing, boxer. He won silver medals at the 2015 European Games and at the 2016 Summer Olympics and at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Professional career Oumiha was scheduled to make his pr ...

Professional career

Early career

Lopez 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 M ...

in October 2016, and made his debut on the undercard of the

Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas, billed as ''The Legend/The Champ'', was a boxing match contested on November 5, 2016, for the WBO and ''Lineal'' welterweight championship. The event took place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

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, 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. 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 Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from lightweight to light middleweight, including the undisputed cha ...

vs. Amir Khan at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, New York City.

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. 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 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 Richard Oblitey Commey (born 10 March 1987) is a Ghanaian professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title in 2019. He previously held multiple regional lightweight titles including; the Ghanaian title in 2011; the ABU title in 2013; and t ...

Lopez vs. Commey

On December 14, 2019, Lopez challenged the IBF lightweight champion

. 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 Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko (also spelled Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko; , ; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed between 2013 and 2024. He has held multiple world championships in three weight clas ...

, 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.

Unified lightweight champion

Lopez vs. Lomachenko

In September 2020, Lopez agreed to fight unified WBA (Super), WBO, and ''The Ring'' champion,

, on October 17 at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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. 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%). Lopez 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, Lopez asserted that he is the undisputed 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 Lopez 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 has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at lightweight from 2022 to 2023, and the World Boxing Counci ...

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

Lopez vs. Kambosos Jr.

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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, 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 i ...

with a winning bid of over US$6 million, leading to a fallout between Lopez 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 Default may refer to: Law * Default (law), the failure to do something required by law ** Default (finance), failure to satisfy the terms of a loan obligation or failure to pay back a loan ** Default judgment, a binding judgment in favor of eit ...

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 (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

. 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, 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.

Light welterweight

Lopez vs. Campa, Martin

For Lopez's eighteenth professional fight, he moved up to the

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

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. Lopez would return on December 10, 2022, against

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

light welterweight champion

Sandor Martín Sandor Martín Clemente (born 22 August 1993) is a Spanish professional boxer who has held the European super-lightweight title since 2019. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's sixth-best active super-lightweight by BoxRec, and eight ...

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. Lopez was caught on camera in the ring post-fight candidly questioning his team: "Do I still got it?"

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 Josh or Joshua Taylor may refer to: * Josh Taylor (actor) (born 1943), American comedy and dramatic television actor * Josh Taylor (baseball) (born 1993), American professional baseball pitcher * Josh Taylor (boxer) (born 1991), Scottish professi ...

on June 10 at the

Hulu Theater The Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG). It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 people and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is situated beneath the main ...

in New York City. He won the fight by unanimous decision, becoming a 2 division world champion. On June 12, Lopez announced his retirement from boxing.

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.

Lopez vs. Claggett

Lopez made the second defense of his title against Steve Claggett at James L. Knight Center in Miami, FL on June 29, 2024. Winning on a unanimous points decision.

Lopez vs. Matías

In December 2024, it was announced that Lopez would make the third defense of his WBO junior welterweight title against

Subriel Matías Subriel Ahmed Matías Matthew (born March 31, 1992) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who held the IBF junior welterweight title from 2023 to 2024. Professional career Early career Matías made his professional debut against Juan Rojas on D ...

on March 15, 2025.

Personal life

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

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. They first met on a

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

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. Shortly after marrying, they spent their honeymoon vacation in Greece. On June 15, 2021, Lopez tested positive for

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

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* WBA (Super) lightweight champion (135 lbs) * IBF lightweight champion (135 lbs) * WBO lightweight champion (135 lbs) * WBO light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' lightweight champion (135 lbs) * ''The Ring'' light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

Regional/International titles

* WBC Continental Americas

champion (135 lbs) * NABA lightweight champion (135 lbs) * USBA lightweight champion (135 lbs) * NABF lightweight champion (135 lbs) * NABF light welterweight champion (140 lbs) *

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

International

champion (140 lbs)

Honorary titles

* WBC Franchise lightweight champion

Boxing Awards

* Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year: 2020 *

Sugar Ray Robinson Award The Sugar Ray Robinson Award, known alternatively as the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year Award and previously known as the Edward J. Neil Trophy, has been conferred annually since 1938 by the Boxing Writers Association of ...

: 2020 *WBN Fighter of the Year: 2020

Notes

References

External links

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