Boxing
Teofimo Lopez vs. Steve Claggett: Champion reveals ambitions for 2024
Watch Lopez vs. Claggett live on ESPN+ (US Only)
WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez is looking to get past Steve Claggett to move on to more fights for the rest of the year.
The 26-year-old American beat Josh Taylor last year to become champion at 140lbs, and scrapped to a decision win against Jamaine Ortiz back in February.
He fights this Saturday (live on ESPN in the US), with Claggett nine years his senior at 35.
Few expect anything other than a Lopez victory, but the champion thinks the benefit is not just from the fight in and of itself, but having the opportunity to stay active
“People have got to understand it’s about productivity, it’s about staying active and that only brings the better version out of myself,” Lopez said, reported BoxingScene.com. “We go back to my career of 2017, 2018 I was fighting four or five times in that year, sometimes even six, so imagine... And look how much I was better better, better, better.”
He continued: “As the competition goes and gets tougher, these are the things… This is why you see all these other fighters, they look phenomenal but what class of fighters are they facing? Just because this one time I’m doing something similar to their degree, people shouldn’t complain.
“I’ve always faced the toughest fighters in the world, including Josh Taylor who at that time was an undisputed world champion [Taylor lost three belts out of the ring], and undefeated, beat everyone in that weight division at 140-pounds.
“Now we go into this part where we are just trying to stay active. I spoke to the lawyer Jeremy [Koegel] of Top Rank. I spoke to the team, I spoke to everyone at Top Rank and said, ‘Listen, I just want three-four fights this year, get me active. If we can’t get these unification fights going on, if we can’t get these other champions to want to face us because they have their own agendas, they have their own plans with other fighters from different networks, and different promoters, then just get me in the ring and fighting’.
“Because that’s the most important part. Everyone complains that I don’t fight this guy, I don’t fight that guy, and when I do, they’re looking for somebody else. All I’m saying now at this point is just staying active and feeding my family with this and giving the fans what they want, and that’s entertainment.”
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