Does Teofimo Lopez need to change trainers?

By Daniele D’Alessio

THE relationship between Teofimo Lopez Jr and Teofimo Lopez Sr as boxer and coach has previously been criticised. When Lopez suffered the first and only loss of his professional career to George Kambosos Jr in 2021, many questioned the guidance ‘The Takeover’ received from his father in the corner.

At the time, Kambosos was a sizable underdog and Lopez’s defeat to the Australian is still considered one of the biggest upsets in the last few years. Despite coming up short via split decision, some believe Lopez should never have lost to Kambosos, especially after beating Vasyl Lomachenko to become a unified lightweight world champion.

Since then, Lopez has blown hot and cold in fights. The American, with Honduran heritage, looked sensational against Josh Taylor to become a two-weight division world champion in June 2023. The scorecards were relatively close, but Lopez looked levels above the Scotsman, like a pound-for-pound superstar taking on an overmatched challenger.

However, his bouts with Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, in particular, left the boxing world scratching its head, wondering if Lopez was the same boxer who was so dominant at 135 lbs. Some fans even believed he was fortunate to emerge victorious.

The word ‘robbery’ gets thrown around far too much in the sport. Yet, at the absolute least, Lopez had competitive contests against opponents who are not regarded as the best in the 140-pound division. 

And despite winning every round against a durable but limited Steve Claggett in his last fight, Lopez was unable to put an exclamation mark on the win with a knockout – something he hasn’t done in four consecutive bouts.

Regardless, Lopez’s talent has never been in doubt, which is why, at the age of 27, ‘The Takeover’ still has time to become an all-time great with legacy-defining bouts against world-class opposition.

The super-lightweight division is filled with talented fighters like Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Jack Catterall and Liam Paro. Yet, Lopez has previously expressed his desire to move up in weight and share the ring with Terence Crawford.

In the meantime, Teofimo Lopez has published footage of himself training alongside Canelo Alvarez and Eddie Reynoso.

Canelo is preparing to defend the WBC, WBO and WBA super-middleweight championships against Edgar Berlanga on September 14. But it’s likely the Mexican superstar won’t be using Lopez as a serious sparring partner because Lopez is five inches shorter and over 20 pounds lighter than Berlanga.

In fact, the videos posted on social media show Canelo and Lopez engaging in non-contact sparring before taking turns smashing the heavy bag. Therefore, one might assume Lopez is flirting with the idea of joining Canelo’s set-up and working with Reynoso. Lopez Sr is nowhere to be seen in either of the clips.

Lopez understands and speaks Spanish, so there would be no language barrier with Reynoso. Plus, Canelo previously stating that Lopez deserves the Crawford bout more than him implies that the Hispanic pair have a good relationship.

Of course, there has been no confirmation from Lopez as to whether he officially plans to work with Reynoso. Yet some might say that after working with his father during his whole boxing career, amateur and pro, that a change is needed for Lopez to reach his full potential.

Until this day, Canelo is ranked as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world by Ring Magazine. Lopez has dropped out. As the old saying goes, ‘iron sharpens iron,’ and Canelo could be the influence Lopez needs to start performing at his ultimate best again.

Besides, from the outside looking in, Reynoso is a considerably different kind of trainer to Lopez Sr. It’s not uncommon for Canelo to walk his opponents down. However, when Canelo decides to counterpunch, he is one of the best in the game and some of that ability must be accredited to Reynoso’s teachings.

Lopez is also an exceptional counterpuncher, which is why a partnership with Reynoso might work. The only difference is that he will be taking instructions from someone other than his dad, and Reynoso is arguably a superior coach.

However, Lopez has been incredibly successful under his father’s tutelage. So, it remains to be seen if changing trainers will enhance Lopez or push him backwards. On the other hand, if he decides to continue with Lopez Sr, an emphatic performance is needed in his next fight.