Teofimo Lopez says his Lightweight rivals are afraid to face him & insists he is the “kingpin” of the division.
Lopez stunned Vasiliy Lomachenko to become unified IBF, WBA ‘Super’, WBO and WBC Franchise champion with a unanimous points win in Las Vegas in October.
‘The Takeover’ is in a thriving weight class, with Ryan Garcia becoming WBC Interim champion and mandatory challenger to full titlist Devin Haney with victory over Luke Campbell in Dallas on Saturday.
The Californian called for a showdown with WBA ‘Regular’ champion, Gervonta Davis in the aftermath of his win, claiming he would stop his rival in two rounds.
However, Lopez whose team is in talks to face IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr, believes his fellow 135lbs contenders do not want to meet him, as he plots three fights in 2021.
“No one wants to mention Teofimo for a reason,” Lopez told TMZ Sports.
“But they’re gonna feel us even more. If they didn’t feel us in 2020 with Loma, they’re gonna feel us even more when it comes to these next couple of fights were gonna have.
“Our goal is to shoot for three fights this year. Whether it’s my mandatory, Garcia, Haney, Tank Davis, those guys at 135, that’s where our goal is and then at 140.
“I guess they those guys man, they know that at least they’ll be a better competition than getting demolished by me, so at least they have a fighting chance.
“They scared. All of them, they scared, they know what’s up.”
Lopez extended his unbeaten record to 16 wins, with victory over Lomachenko and says his fellow unbeaten compatriots Haney and Garcia are at the top of his hitlist.
However, the 23-year-old does not see an immediate fight occuring with him and ‘Tank’ Davis, who scored a showreel knockout of Leo Santa Cruz in October to add the WBA ‘Super’ Super Featherweight belt to his collection.
“If my mandatory doesn’t work and they don’t make this fight happen and it falls off, our next guy is Haney,” Lopez added.
“And if Haney overprices himself then we’re gonna try to shoot for Garcia.
“The reason why I’m not shooting for Tank is because Floyd Mayweather [Davis’ promoter] himself said he’s not going to have him fight me next, so obviously that’s off the radar, so why do I need to mention someone I’m not going to fight?”
Questioned whether Davis is scared to fight him, Lopez said: “Yeah he is, he is.
“He’s not scared of the opposition he’s facing right now, because it’s lightwork.
“He knocked out a 122 pounder, come on, yo, I could do the same s*** and I could do it in a better fashion.”
Regardless, Lopez insists he fully respects his rivals and their achievements in the sport, but believes he is the premier Lightweight.
“Take my hat off to him [Davis] man, he’s doing his thing and I congratulate all of them.
“Haney, Garcia, Tank, but when it comes to it man, I’m the king of the division and I’m the kingpin.”
