The undisputed 135-pound champion is out to conquer new territory Saturday night at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater against George Kambosos Jr.
“It’s too late now for everyone,” undisputed lightweight boxing champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. announced during a media workout on May 25 in Las Vegas. Months after defeating Vasyl Lomachenko to unify the lightweight championship of the world in September 2020, the champ was fully channeling the fact that he had come to be recognized not just as one of boxing’s best young stars, but as one of its finest pound-for-pound fighters period.
Usually, superstardom requires upstart talents to take a more gradual path — but takeovers don’t abide by standard schedules. They simply happen. They just are.
And for the 24-year-old Brooklyn native who properly bears “The Takeover” as a nickname, his time is right now. And on Saturday night, Nov. 27, he gets his next test in the form of Australian challenger George Kambosos Jr. under the lights at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater.
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The Takeover Brand
- Pro boxing record: 16-0 (12 KOs)
- Titles: IBF, WBA, WBO, WBC “franchise,” and Ring lightweight (135-pound) champion
- Est. net worth pre-Lomachenko fight: $1.1 million
- Est. worth post-Lomachenko fight: $2.5 million
- Instagram followers: 758K
- Key Endorsements: Bud Light, Grant Worldwide boxing gloves, Essentia water, Contenders Clothing, One With Life Tequila, Reign Body Fuel
“It’s not about proving anybody wrong. It’s about proving me right.” Lopez lives by this ideal, and is supported with maximum intensity and spirit by his trainer and father, Teofimo Lopez Sr.
Before the fight with Lomachenko, there was doubt if Lopez even belonged in the ring with the methodical yet devastating Ukrainian. Having only had 15 professional fights and newly won, undefended title at the time, it was arguable that Lopez hadn’t gathered enough cache on his resume to take on the likes of pound-for-pound darling Lomachenko, who only had 16 pro fights himself, but hundreds of amateur contests and two Olympic gold medals to his name.
The run up to the bout sparked some bad blood between the two camps. Lopez Sr., who is a fiery character and no-nonsense one to boot, repeatedly insisted that his son was not simply going to beat Loma, but that he’d do so brutally, drumming up even more heat surrounding the Top Rank unification bout.
Going into the fight, Lomachenko was as much as a -400 favorite to hand Lopez his first professional loss; 12 masterful rounds later, Lopez was declared the victor, drastically increasing his upward trajectory as a superstar boxer. Shortly after his win, Lopez stated that he was “disappointed” in the fight with Lomachenko, expecting more from the former champion.
The Lomachenko fight came with a $5 million purse, of which Lopez took a guaranteed 40% of — his personal purse record had previously been $400,000 for his 2019 bout with Richard Commey that won him his first world title belt. Tripling his best in-ring earnings to date (and nearly doubling his estimated net worth) after one fight certainly supports that Lopez’s status is rising.
And now that he’s expanding his reach by moving at least temporarily outside the umbrella of promoter Top Rank and network partner ESPN to fight for Matchroom Boxing on DAZN, the Takeover has a sincere chance to expand into new territory Saturday.
Lopez vs. Kambosos Fight Purses & Betting Odds
As of this writing, Lopez is a -1100 favorite at FanDuel. The comeback on Kambosos is +590.
The best odds for a method of victory prop are Lopez by KO/TKO at -210.
The best odds for a method of victory prop for Kambosos? KO/TKO at +850.
Lopez’s purse take is reported to be nearly $2.3 million, while Kambosos will take home approximately $1.23 million.
Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Fight Card
Undisputed lightweight title: Teofimo Lopez (c) vs. George Kambosos Jr.
IBF super featherweight (130-pound) title: Azinga Fuzile vs. Kenichi Ogawa
Featherweight (126 pounds): Raymond Ford vs. Felix Caraballo
Middleweight (160 pounds): Andreas Katzourakis vs. Wendy Toussaint
Super lightweight (140 pounds): Reshat Mati vs. Dimitri Trenel
Heavyweight: Zhilei Zhang vs. Bernardo Marquez
Super bantamweight (122 pounds): Ramala Ali vs. Isela Vera
Flyweight (112 pounds): Christina Cruz vs. Marygreen Vellinga Hinz
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