4 Best Opponents for Teofimo Lopez After Win vs. Jamaine Ortiz
He'd done it at 135 pounds. And now he's done it at 140.
Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by desultory unanimous decision atop an ESPN-televised show from Las Vegas on Thursday night, making his first defense of the WBO junior welterweight title he'd wrested from Josh Taylor in New York City last spring.
Lopez won on one card by a 117-111 (9-3 in rounds) margin and the other two by 115-113 (7-5 in rounds) counts. He'd been a one-defense champion at lightweight before dropping his IBF, WBA and WBO belts to George Kambosos Jr. in one of 2021's biggest upsets.
The win over Ortiz, who'd been the WBO's 10th-ranked contender, was the 20th in 21 fights for Lopez across a career that began in 2016. He was a full-timer at 135 pounds before moving up the ladder to 140 in 2022 after a nine-month break that followed the loss.
It also kept the 26-year-old in line for several intriguing fights that can be made at 140 and it was all the reason the B/R combat team needed to scan the horizon for the four best options possible for the next time—or the next couple of times—around.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.
Arnold Barboza Jr.
1 of 4
It could be next. It could be never.
But if Arnold Barboza Jr. and Lopez do get together, they'll have smoke.
Barboza is the WBO's No. 1 contender, which already makes him a logical opponent for Lopez, but the stakes were raised last month when Barboza, on the arena floor after defeating Xolisani Ndongeni at the Virgin Hotels complex in Las Vegas, was part of an altercation with Lopez's team in which he grabbed Lopez's father, Teofimo Sr.
Needless to say, Lopez, already a fiery sort to begin with, was neither amused nor pleased. And though he dismissed Barboza's actions as those of a guy trying to get attention, the combination of the enmity and Barboza's ranking make it a perfect appetizer to other things.
"If you want to promote a fight, that's one thing," Lopez said.
"If you touch my father, I'm gonna lay hands on you. And it's the whole team that's gonna do it. There are certain ways he's gotta know how to get the fights. Physical is not gonna be the one. I love everyone but I'm worse than Mike Tyson if you really want to test me. Whatever they were trying to do ain't it."
Devin Haney
2 of 4
There are fellow champions. And then there are fellow champions.
Devin Haney shares Lopez's pedigree as a fighter with title claims at both 135 and 140 pounds and the 25-year-old Californian, now based in Las Vegas, is slotted alongside Lopez in the top two spots in the 140-pound rankings by The Ring.
In fact, it was Haney who followed Lopez as a multi-belt champion at 135, defeating Kambosos by unanimous seven months after the Lopez fight and repeating a win with another one-sided verdict on the Australian's home turf four months later.
Haney also defeated Lopez victim Vasyl Lomachenko in his final fight at lightweight before climbing to 140 to handle WBC champ Regis Prograis in December. The win moved Haney up a few notches on most respected pound-for-pound lists, including sixth on B/R's.
But Lopez, whose win over Taylor came six months prior, suggests he's the top man at the weight because of who he dethroned, and claimed the others would have to engage with him to legitimize their claims.
"I beat the guy of the division, so I am king. I am king," he told FightHype.
"So, whoever wants to step, come. Devin Haney is No. 2, and Teofimo is No. 1 because I have the lineal. One thing me and my father know is that stuff eats them every night. Everybody knows you want to be No. 1. You don't want to be No. 2."
Subriel Matias
3 of 4
Top contenders are one thing. Fellow champions are another.
Puerto Rican slugger Subriel Matias became the 140-pound division's resident boogeyman in 2023 with a pair of KO wins that let him win and defend the IBF's title in the weight class.
Matias beat Jeremias Ponce in five rounds in February and battered Shohjahon Ergashev across six in November to run his record to 20-1, with all 20 wins by stoppage,
The wins moved Matias to fourth-best in the division according to The Ring and they got him on Lopez's radar as well, though the WBO champion isn't shy about suggesting his counterpart isn't quite as menacing as he's portrayed.
Lopez was interested in facing Matias during Super Bowl week but pivoted to Ortiz when Matias said he'd need more time to recoup from a hand injury.
Not surprisingly, Lopez interpreted his fellow champion's reticence as weakness.
"He can be an IBF world champion but he's the most softest fighter in the division," Lopez told Pro Box TV (via Boxing Scene). "He's one dimensional."
Still, Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported in December that the teams have had "substantive conversations" about a fight on the weekend of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
Stay tuned.
Gervonta Davis
4 of 4
Randy Gordon is excited about Lopez fighting Gervonta Davis.
And it's not due to a lack of awareness.
Gordon is a former editor at The Ring, former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, and current host of At The Fights on SiriusXM radio.
"I think a fight with Davis," he told Bleacher Report, "is the biggest match in boxing."
It would match the eighth (Davis) and ninth (Lopez) fighters on B/R's February pound-for-pound list, as well as two guys who've spent recent years stacking title belts. Lopez had the IBF, WBA and WBO titles at 135 pounds before winning the WBO strap at 140, while Davis has had reigns of varied worth at 130 (IBF/WBA), 135 (WBA) and 140 (WBA) pounds.
Footage of the two sparring has made the rounds on social media and the would-be combatants haven't been shy about suggesting it's the other guy who's ducking the prospect of getting together as full-fledged opponents.
"The reason why the Tank Davis fight won't happen is obviously they have their mock-up plan on what they're gonna do with Gervonta," Lopez told ProBox TV (via Boxing Scene). "He doesn't have to go above the B level, he doesn't have to go below the C level."
Lopez's promoter, Bob Arum, is a touch more optimistic and said it could be done as a product of recent interest by the Saudi Arabian government.
"The way it will probably happen, where everything is happening, is the Saudis ... [they] might decide to do the fight, after Ramadan this summer and cut the checks to the fighters," Arum told Boxing Scene.
"And that ends any kind of discussion of who gets what percentages. The stuff about A-side and dictating terms, that's total and complete nonsense. Once you settle on the money and work out the percentages, then everything else is easy."
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