Teofimo Lopez ready for battle against Steve Claggett

Teofimo Lopez admits that his companion Steve Claggett is a hungry fighter looking to upset him Saturday night in their twelve-round fight on ESPN.

Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) says his ring IQ is on another level, and Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) will find that out when he steps into the ring with him at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

Teofimo doesn’t expect Claggett to change his fighting style for their fight like his last opponent, Jamaine Ortiz, did.

Lopez took this fight thinking Jamaine was going to fight him, but instead he boxed and made Teofimo look like a bad opponent the entire 12-round fight last February. He showed that Teofimo lacks hand speed and the ability to cut the ring.

Against the slow-footed Claggett, who lacks speed or mobility, Teofimo won’t have to worry about being shut out.

Top Rank picked the perfect opponent for Teo to be impressive, but the fight didn’t help Teofimo’s popularity as fans weren’t excited about this match.

Teofimo says the only reason he’s fighting Claggett is because none of the big names wanted to fight him, which is not true. He wanted this guy. Teo chose Claggett over these three fighters:

– Keyshawn Davis
– Raymond Muratalla
–Arnold Barboza Jr.

Lopez’s strategy

“They have been preparing since February. Fifteen years, their whole life, for this opportunity. Those are the kind of fighters we want to fight sometimes,” Teofimo Lopez told Title Sports Network about his fight against compatriot Steve Claggett Saturday night on ESPN.

“Not all the time, but sometimes, and that’s just because if we can’t get the unification belts that I’m looking forward to, then we have to make it happen somehow ” said Teofimo.

Trying to set up a unification fight with Teofimo is virtually impossible because he has a high price tag, and he would either pull out of the fight or reject it. He could have fought former IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias before he lost his title, but he didn’t want to.

A unification against Devin Haney would have been impossible to do due to purse requirements.

“This guy is hungry. He will come and bring it back, but for how long, we will see,” Teofimo said.

Of course, Claggett, 34, is hungry because he has been in the pros for a long time and has failed to secure a world title due to his numerous defeats. Every time Claggett gained momentum, he lost.

“My IQ is on another level, but we’re never going to take that away from Steve Claggett and what he’s done so far,” Teofimo said. “Every single person he’s faced, he’s faced former world champions and stopped them. So, I’m looking forward to a great fight on Saturday.”

Teofimo is a consistent boxer who gets by on his power and matchmaking skills more than his high in-ring IQ. He tends to collapse when under pressure and is very uncomfortable when his opponents come to win.

When Teofimo campaigned at lightweight, his power was much better because he was huge for that division. When he moved up to 140, his power didn’t follow him anymore and his knockouts dried up.

Teofimo is now forced to win his fights by decision, and he has had some controversial wins over Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. The reason for this is that Teofimo’s boxing skills are good enough, and he can’t rely on him to knock out most of his opponents like he did at 135.

“Jamaine Ortiz fooled everyone and fooled me, and that was very good,” Teofimo said of his last opponent, with whom he fought, winning a controversial decision last February.

“This guy is known for one thing. He’s a simple, forward-thinking fighter, and he tries to wear you down. This guy has been preparing since February. So, he’s been training hard.

Top Rank picking Claggett has to be seen as a knee-jerk reaction on their part after seeing how bad Teofimo looked against the boxer/puncher Jamaine. When Top Rank saw that, they likely decided to keep Teofimo away from anyone with skill and focus on using advanced fighters.

“When we put the ball on, he smiled. This is not a smiling sport. I have to go out there and do what I have to do. You try to take my bread and butter away from me, and I won’t let that happen. So, expect a good fight, good shots, and just expect his face to hit my hands,” Teofimo said of Claggett.