Teofimo Lopez is focused on getting his body right ahead of a move to super lightweight.
'The Takeover' has been out of action since his upset loss to George Kambosos Jr. last November. Despite heading into the contest as a massive favorite, Lopez was dropped and took massive damage en route to a split-decision defeat.
Following the defeat, fans learned that Lopez was severely compromised during the contest. The young boxer was diagnosed with pneumomediastinum, which means that air was in his lungs following a torn esophagus. Had Lopez been hit in the wrong place during his loss, he could've died that night in November.
Due to that devastating injury, combined with a brutal weight cut, Lopez decided to move up to 140 pounds. While many fans hoped to see the former lightweight champion return to his old stomping grounds, he will instead campaign at the super lightweight moving forward.
Ahead of the weight move, Teofimo Lopez is fully focused on getting his body right. In an interview with ESPN Ringside, the super lightweight contender stated:
"I think honestly it's just been, just trying to get my body, remind my body that we don't have to go down to [1]35. Just letting it know that we will be at 140 and just working a lot — just a lot of conditioning. Trying to build that stamina and everything because of everything that's happened in the past."
See Lopez's comments in the video below:
Who is Teofimo Lopez fighting this weekend?
Teofimo Lopez will face off against Pedro Campa this Saturday night at the Resorts World Las Vegas in Nevada.
The Mexican boxer is currently a bit of an unknown quantity. While he has a professional record of 34-1-1, Campa hasn't faced great competition to put it lightly. To this point, he hasn't faced any fighters well-known in the international boxing scene.
Meanwhile, Lopez, while coming off a defeat, is a former champion who's defeated names such as Vasyl Lomachenko. Even in his defeat against Kambosos Jr., 'The Takeover' still fought admirably and nearly won despite his terrible physical condition.
For this reason, the bout is seen as little more than Lopez getting his feet wet at 140 pounds. Presently, he is a monumental favorite for his comeback fight, and there's not much fan interest in this outing.
However, upsets happen all the time in boxing, as seen in Lopez's loss to Kambosos Jr. last year. Fans will see if lightning strikes twice this Saturday in Vegas.