Teofimo Lopez’s next fight is potentially coming together, as the former 135 lb titleholder gets set to move up in weight following last year’s upset loss to George Kambosos Jr and a fairly lengthy break from the ring.
Lance Pugmire reports that Lopez still looks set to return in August, as previously reported, and that the fight will come in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with Pedro Campa the leading candidate to be Teofimo’s opponent in his 140 lb debut.
Lopez (16-1, 12 KO) will have to be medically cleared, of course, following a hand surgery in March, which followed arthroscopic surgery on his elbow in February.
The 24-year-old Lopez will be an enormous favorite against Campa (33-1-1, 22 KO) if that winds up being the fight. The 30-year-old from Mexico has a pretty shiny record, but it’s really empty. He did appear to be making progress back in 2015-17, picking up some decent wins over veterans, before he was stopped in seven by club fighter Carlos Jimenez in Oct. 2017.
More recently, Campa went to a 10-round draw with Abner Lopez in 2019. He has won three straight, but against limited opposition. The bout would be his second in the U.S.; he defeated Aaron Herrera in Arizona in 2015, which is maybe his best win to date.
But it’s the sort of fight that should be expected in this situation, too. There will be questions about Lopez mentally and physically in this return, and he’ll be in there with a guy who, frankly, he should be able to beat even if he’s not really at a full 100 percent in some way.
So, no, this isn’t exciting as a matchup, and if it’s not Campa it probably will be someone like Campa, but Teofimo will get back into action and probably have a bigger fight either late in 2022 or early in 2023.