By Tom Eaton
WHEN fighting on a card alongside superstars that he may face down the line, it would be easy for Teofimo Lopez to get distracted. However, he would be wise not to look beyond the tough Times Square task at hand.
Friday’s defence of his WBO super-lightweight title, against the undefeated and game Arnold Barboza Jr, must be the focus. Both Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia can wait.
Yet, whilst a bill of this magnitude comes with hurdles of its own, it also provides ‘The Takeover’ with a chance to outshine his rivals. Here, Lopez, 21-1 (13 KOs), could live up to his nickname in the years to come and emerge as the man to beat at either 140lbs or 147lbs.
Lopez became a two-division world champion when he pulled off the upset to dethrone Josh Taylor in 2023. However, the New Yorker has failed to impress in his two title defences since.
First, scoring a controversial unanimous decision against Jamaine Ortiz. Then going the distance with Steve Claggett, a challenger he was expected to knock out.
As a result, the Teofimo Lopez hype train has come to a stop of sorts and the 27-year-old needs a performance to get back on track and reaffirm his position as a pound-for-pound talent. Luckily, the newly-respected Barboza, 32-0 (11 KOs), provides him with that precise opportunity.
Barboza was the beneficiary of a fortunate decision of his own when he got the nod over Sean McComb last year. Though that poor display has since become a distant memory after a win over Jose Carlos Ramirez and a shock triumph over Jack Catterall on away soil proved Barboza’s quality.
Against a back-footed Catterall, Barboza’s output won him the fight. The visitor continuously threw punches in bunches and was willing to miss the first or second punch of each combination in order to land a third.
As a result, the Brit was overwhelmed, and his work became smothered, forgoing a second career challenge for world honours as he lost a split decision.
With Lopez, we can expect Barboza to adopt a similar approach to that of his career-best win. This is due the fact that the champion has gone the distance in his last four contests and hasn’t scored a stoppage win at 140lbs since his debut at the weight.
Consequently, his punch power, or lack of, may fail to deter the Californian challenger from marching through the fire and applying unrelenting output and pressure.
Therefore, with Barboza likely to come forward and take the fight to Lopez, openings may appear for Lopez to deliver a statement performance and potentially stop Barboza to steal the Times Square show.
Any underestimation from Lopez will likely be punished and result in the end of both his reign and reputation as one of the sport’s elite fighters.
Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Fight Prediction
Still, on a card of this size and in his hometown, BN Online believe that Lopez will be at his best and that an aggressive approach from Barboza will favour the champion.
Having struggled with cutting off the ring against Ortiz, defence-first fighters appear to be an issue for Lopez. Barboza’s success as an aggressor against Catterall may sway him from such an approach.
We anticipate that Barboza will meet Lopez in the middle on Friday night and a back-and-forth battle will ensue. The superior timing and shot selection of Lopez benefits him here and should see him come out on top with a unanimous decision win.
