Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teófimo López Post-Fight Press Conference Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00)
Your career stopped Lanell Bellows in less than one round. Bellows had never been knocked out before. And the man on the stage from Brooklyn, vis-a-vis San Juan Puerto Rico did it in less than one round. He’s the chosen one Edgar Berlanga. Now everybody on the zoom chat, we have a humongous turnout here. Please use the raise hand button on the zoom chat in order to ask a question and I will get to as many as I can. Teofimo Lopez is getting stitched up right now, and we hope that he will be joining us shortly after we conclude with Edgar Berlanga. So everybody please raise hand button on the zoom chat and I’ve got a couple of reporters here as well, so we will get going right away. Thank you very much. First in the audience, we go to Keith Idec, Boxing Scene.

Keith Idec: (00:59)
Edgar, congratulations.

Edgar Berlanga: (01:00)
Thank you.

Keith Idec: (01:02)
Did you want rounds tonight? I know eventually a fight is going to go into the second round. Did you want some rounds tonight?

I’m going to be honest. I wanted to end it. I seen blood, I smoked it. I seen he was hurt and like I always do, man, when I see a guy hurt or he don’t want to be in there with me, he shouldn’t be in there then, and I’ll take him out. And that was my job for today to do. But some reason, man, I really, really, really wanted to take this guy out for the simple fact that he’s never been stopped and he’s never been knocked out. So I just wanted to prove a point

Speaker 1: (01:50)
And next we go to another member of the audience, Mike Carpenter from The Athletic. Mike, go ahead.

Mike Carpenter: (01:55)
Hey, Edgar. Congratulations on the keeping the streak alive. My question for you is how important was it to you to get another first round knockout and keep the hype going?

It was pretty dope. But like I said, man, I wanted to end this fight. I seen blood in the first round with the first jab I threw. I split the guy’s eye open, and I seen blood, I smoked it man and it was time to kill for me.

Speaker 1: (02:22)
Thank you, Mike. And next we go to our first zoom question of the evening from Adriana Jimenez. Adriana, you should be unmuted please go ahead when ready.

Adriana Jimenez: (02:32)
Edgar, congratulations. This was supposed to be your toughest challenge yet, and yet you passed it with ease. Once again what’s your take, how can you put into words your performance tonight?

I think it was a B. I felt like I smelled blood. I was supposed to follow a game plan that me and my coach had, and I was supposed to throw a certain combination that I didn’t follow because I smelled blood. I’m not too happy with the performance, but I’m happy that we got the win and I’m back in December. So I’m happy with that.

If I can ask another question or… [crosstalk 00:03:14].

Speaker 1: (03:14)
Yes, one more Adriana.

I know you have a friendship with Teofimo. Making history tonight, can you tell me what that victory means to you and how did you feel that fight?

Speaker 1: (03:24)
I’m excited. I told his sister, I said, “Damn, I forgot about my victory.” because I’m excited. I’ve been with him this whole week, we’ve been eating breakfast together, lunch, dinner and we just been talking and chopping it up, man and he was ready. I know he was ready mentally, physically. And I’m excited, man. He’s 23 years old. He’s from New York like me and we taking over.

Speaker 1: (03:48)
Thank you very much, Adriana. And our next question comes from J.R Bell. J.R, you should be unmuted. Please. Go ahead when ready sir.

J.R Bell: (03:56)
Edgar, you had your 15 knockout first round. You were excited. You went on the rolls, the coach was here saying, “give me pushups once again.” So what was that mistake that made you put have pushups once again after that fight?

I was supposed to throw a jab, step over and shoot a right hook and a left uppercut. And as you could see, I didn’t do none of that. So he was screaming it out to do it because it was there, but man, I just smoked blood. Like I said I seen the guy was cut, I seen he was hurt. I seen, he didn’t want to be in there with me. The look of his eyes, man. I seen fear. And when I see that, for me, it was attack.

Speaker 1: (04:39)
And next up we got another question from the audience, Sam Gordon from the Las Vegas Review Journal. Sam, please go ahead.

Sam Gordon: (04:47)
Congratulations on the victory, Edgar. After the fight, after your victory, you get up on a top rope. You let everybody know I’m a monster. Who was that directed at? Where did that emotion come from? And was that towards the media? Was that towards everybody in boxing? Was that to the rest of the division? Just who was that directed at?

It was just everybody in boxing. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It was just adrenaline rush. I felt like people thought, “Oh, this is the guy who’s going to take them rounds.” And I know I proved them wrong. I’m 15 and 0. And now we’re 15 knockouts all in the first round and I stopped the guy that has never been knocked out or never been stopped. It’s a big one for me tonight, man, and we’re looking forward to the next one.

Speaker 1: (05:31)
Thank you Sam. And next we go to another zoom question. Ben Baby, espn.com. You should be unmuted. Please go ahead.

Ben Baby: (05:39)
Hey, Edgar. Obviously this looked like it was designed to be a showcase event for you, especially on the prime ESPN platform, but Bellows have was winless in four of his last six, you won 15 by first round K.O. Would you like to see stiffer competition sooner rather than later to kind of show how good you are and really get a true test of what your skills are in the ring?

Yeah. Eventually, we’re going to get there. Like I always say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. As a stepping stone on me, I’m not rushing. I’m young, I’m 23 years old. I’m a young superstar, man. I got the world in front of me. I got Puerto Rico behind me. I got a lot of big people behind me, man. And we just taking it step by step man. You know, we’re going to look forward to the next fight and see who we have and what opponent we have for the next fight.

Speaker 1: (06:23)
Thank you very much. And our next question comes from Sean Patel from fighthype.com. Sean, please go ahead.

Sean Patel: (06:33)
Hey, Edgar. Congrats again, man. We’re seeing the power obviously and the speed in these first round knockouts, but what are some of the things you think we haven’t been able to see that we can see in your arsenal in the future?

Well, you’re definitely going to see beautiful boxing skills. During camp man, I’m boxing 12 rounds working on my skill, working on my craft. A lot of the media, a lot of the people in the boxing world only see the first round, they only see the power. But there’s more to me, a lot more. And I’m ready to really shock people when that day comes, because when they see the boxing skills and they see me using that beautiful jab and the leg movement and the head movement and not getting touched, they’re going to know is real.

Sean Patel: (07:23)
You have a chance to catch up with fat Joe yet?

Yeah. as soon as I went to the back, I FaceTimed him and he was home with his family. He was going crazy, man. He put it up on his Instagram, on his page, but he’s going berserk, man. He’s like, “there’s no one like you,” but I’m happy to have a guy like him behind me and supporting me man. And obviously he co-signed me too. So we going up.

Speaker 1: (07:48)
[crosstalk 00:07:48] Oh, thank you, Sean. Sorry for interrupting. Next we go to Hans [Dennis stowed. I 00:07:53] hope I pronounce that. Correct. Hans, please go ahead.

Hans: (07:57)
Hey, what’s going on? Yeah, you pronounced it right. Appreciate it. So, yeah, Edgar, I just want to really know, talking to a lot of people, they kind of just want to know what’s next for you. I know in your last knockout, when you said that you wanted to take your time, you wasn’t really thinking about the champion and things like that, but you have a whole bunch of hype behind you right now. Do you kind of see yourself find somebody at least in like the top 10 and 2021, or how do you kind of see it playing out?

Yeah, we’re going to end this year with a bang and then moving forward to 2021, I’ve been speaking on my team, my dad and Keith Conley and we looking forward to stepping it up, man at 2021 and really taking it to the next level. It’s about that time. And like I said, man, I’m still young, but I know eventually that day’s going to come in and we’re going to really step up and we’re going to shock the world.

Speaker 1: (08:53)
And again, we’ve got Edgar for a couple more questions. I know he’s anxious to get out there and celebrate as he should. So everybody again, use the raise hand button on the zoom call or message to me privately in the zoom chat and I will get to you. And next we go to Danny Thompson. Danny, please go ahead when ready. One more for Danny. Danny, go ahead.

Danny Thompson: (09:44)
Can you hear me?

Yeah.

Congratulations on the 15th knockout. At the end of the Lopez fight, when they asked about potential people that could be stepped next in line with him, your name came out of his mouth. I know you say you’re still trying to work your way up, but how does it feel to have arguably pound to pound the best fighter in the world now looking at you as saying, “Hey, I’m willing to step in the ring with you when the time is right.”

Wait, sorry. Say that again.

Lopez, during his post fight press conference, he mentioned you as maybe somebody on the horizon that he would love to get in the ring with because he wants to fight the best. How does it feel to have someone like Teofimo Lopez say, “Hey, this guy is going to be something special.” How does that feel to have that the pound for pound best fighter in the world say something like that towards you.

Keith Idec: (10:40)
I mean, I can’t step in the ring with him. His fight’s at 135. I fight at super middleweight. But I can’t answer that question because we’re different weight classes, but I’m happy for my brother, man. He’s from Brooklyn, he’s representing New York man and he just made history tonight.

Speaker 1: (10:59)
Well, thank you everybody for joining us for joining us for part one of our… Actually we got one more editor, one more from Gail [Falk, 00:11:07] . Gail, you’re unmuted. Please go ahead and then we will let Edgar go. Thank you Gail.

Gail: (11:12)
Thank you very much, Edgar. I’ve got to expand on that previous question a little bit. Teofimo made a point of saying that you, he, you also named Shakur Stevenson, Jose Ramirez are part of a new wave, a new generation of boxers. Interestingly, all of you are Americans. Do you think there is a wave of talent? There’s something coming together for a group of fighters like you that are going to become the faces of boxing here in the next few years?

Of course, a hundred percent. I spent the whole week with Teo. We have the same nutritionist team and man, we just been chopping it up. We just been talking about the future man and how we’re the face of boxing. It’s a new generation coming in and we’re young and we’re hungry. This era, I feel like we taking more of a leap of faith. My brother just made a big statement tonight. He’s 23 years old with only 15 fights and he’s on the speed of world champ at only 23 years old. So I feel like is a beautiful thing, man. Is new faces for boxing. And there’s going to be a lot of superstars coming out.

Speaker 1: (12:32)
Thank you everybody so much for joining us here. Teofimo Lopez will be joining us in a second. And that will wrap it up or part one of our post match press conference. Edgar, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you.

Speaker 1: (12:43)
Congratulations sir.

Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2: (21:21)
The youngest undisputed champion in the world.

Speaker 3: (21:23)
[inaudible 00:21:24].

Speaker 2: (21:27)
I don’t think anybody would do that again.

Speaker 3: (21:34)
I got a video, I’m going to send it to you. [inaudible 00:21:38].

Moderator Evan: (21:45)
Thank you everyone for sticking here with us Teofimo Jr should be back here soon. But while we wait for the new undisputed champ, we have his trainer, his father, the man who two and a half, three, four years ago, predicted this, Teofimo Lopez Sr. He’s on the stage right now. Again, the raise hand button in the Zoom chat, and then we got some questions from the audience I’m sure as well, so please get in the queue. Our first question comes from Sam Gordon with the Review Journal.

Sam Gordon: (22:17)
First and foremost congratulations on the victory. What tactically did you see … What vulnerabilities did you see in Lomachenko tonight that you guys were able to exploit going into the fight?

Teofimo Sr: (22:27)
From the beginning, I had told him, keep your composure hit, don’t get hit. We got this thing that we call the pyramid and basically, it goes like into an angle where you could touch the fighter, the fighter can’t touch you. When I seen Lomachenko having a hard time with that, I knew that we was going to win this fight. Right away I found out. I got to give a lot of respect to Lomachenko for taking those big shots, early on into the fight. He wanted to win. He just couldn’t figure out my son. My son was a better man today. We did something that everybody thought we couldn’t do. We out-boxed him. We gave him a clinic, and I’m just so glad man, that everything that I said came into existing.

Keith Attic, you’re next.

Keith Attic: (23:19)
Congratulations on the big win.

Teofimo Sr: (23:21)
Thank you.

Welcome Lomachenko came back a little bit in the second half of the fight, he mounted a comeback and he was much more aggressive in the second half. Was there any concern on your part that he was winning rounds at that point, or did you feel heading down the stretch that you were ahead?

Teofimo Sr: (23:35)
Well, I really didn’t see him winning any rounds because to me, my son was hitting with the biggest shots. He was playing dirty in there, he was trying to headbutt him, he headbutted him a lot of times in his eyes. And I was telling him, “Listen, man, you don’t let this guy keep on going because he’s going to end up cutting you.” I told him that around the eighth round, and it came to happen. He got desperate because he knew that he could only win by knockout.

Did you tell your son to, for lack of better words, fight dirty back because it seemed like Lomachenko was hitting him on the brake and headbutting him and everything. Did you tell him to give it back to him a little bit? Or what did you … How did you go about it?

Teofimo Sr: (24:17)
No, I just told him that he had to be tougher, try to keep away from him, stay composed, move around, because he’s a great boxer. His whole 170 amateur fights was boxing and we needed that today. We showed the world that my son is not only a puncher like I said before. We just made the best boxer in the world look like nothing. We’re here to stay for a long time. This kid is only 23. We making history, man. He’s the first one to win four belts at the 135 pound division, and the first one to unify so young.

Thank you, Keith. Next we go to Kevin Aioli from Yahoo. Kevin, please go ahead.

Kevin Aioli: (25:00)
Teofimo just curious, in the early part of the fight Vasyl wasn’t even throwing any punches at all. Do you think that was because of what was coming at him and that he couldn’t fire back because the power was too much for him?

Teofimo Sr: (25:11)
No, it was because of the pyramid. Like I said, we could hit you, but you can’t hit us. And if you try to get in, you got to pay for it. He couldn’t understand that style and it was too late when he tried to figure it out then he just went for broke. That’s what I saw in him. He said, “What the hell, I don’t want to lose.” That’s why he started going crazy, going inside with his head under, hitting my son with those shots to the head, with his head and he was just trying to make the fight dirty. But my son stood composed that I got … That’s what true champions do. It was an amazing fight. I knew that once we adapted to him, the fight was over.

Kevin Aioli: (25:53)
I know this isn’t your call, but I’m just curious what you think. Where do you want to see Teofimo go next? Do you want to see them try to reel off some runs at defenses in this division? Or do you think there’s other titles … He’s a big kid that maybe have him move up and at some point and chase another championship?

Teofimo Sr: (26:12)
If it wasn’t for these people that are helping us now, perfecting athletes I don’t think he would have been able to make the wait so comfortably. I think it’s time to move up. I think it’s time for him to go and try to get all the belts at the 140 pound division. There’s no, reason why we have to stay at 135 unless they give us something to want to fight for. So it all depends, it all depends, but I’d rather him go to 140. He’s been suffering at this weight for seven years already.

Thank you Kevin, and now we go to our first Zoom question of the evening. Michael Woods, please go ahead.

Micheal Woods: (26:53)
Teofimo Sr full credit to you. I don’t know exactly the history of Nostradamus, but I’m guessing that Nostradamus got a lot of shit when he was saying his stuff, and people didn’t believe him. So full credit to you. You guys talked a lot of stuff for a lot of years, but you backed there every bit of it up. So props to you, man. You’re a little bit Brooklyn style and it rubs people a certain way, but props to you. I got to ask you, do you think Lomachenko deserves a rematch? If he says, “Hey, I want to do this again.” Will you say, “Yeah, let’s give that guy the opportunity to try it again.”

Teofimo Sr: (27:36)
If the fight would have been closed maybe. I wore my lucky hat today. I was going to put Dione Ramirez hat. My son’s friend that had passed away, but I told my son, you know, why I put the shirt on and I want to, I want to go in there with my Nostradamus hat. I felt like … I think I made the right decision of wearing this hat, because we’ve been winning a lot of fights like this. I was not nervous at all. I was anxious. I was very anxious the whole day today. I just wanted it to be over with. I just wanted to shut everybody up, and I knew it. My son has always been with me. I know what he could do. I know what he cannot do. From now on, I just don’t want nobody to doubt him no more. He has suffered so much. He never gets what he deserves, let’s see what happens now.

Thank you for that doctoral dissertation, Michael, next we go to Sean [inaudible 00:28:36].

Man, I’m so happy.

Sean: (28:40)
Hey Teofimo, congrats for your son, man. Great performance. Did anything surprise you about this fight? You’ve called it for a few years now. Anything surprised you tonight?

Teofimo Sr: (28:52)
Of course not. I know what I got. I didn’t stutter when I said we were going to beat this guy up. The only thing that I was surprised was he took those shots really good, and I got to give it up to Lomachenko. He’s a strong fighter. That’s why he’s got two gold medals, 400 fights. The guy has been there with everybody’s style, but he never fought a guy like my son. Out of those 400 and something fights that he had, my son had the kryptonite for him and tonight we showed it.

Thank you very much, and next we go to Mike Carpenter from The Athletic.

Congratulations. It’s funny right? Everyone knows you as a guy who was really excitable, I’d never seen you this composed are you finding clarity?

Teofimo Sr: (29:39)
I already got … When I got Lomachenko I don’t need to do all that no stuff, that nonsense. I wanted him. Once I got him that’s it, is over. I wanted him in the ring. I wanted the opportunity and God gave it to me. I knew that … That’s why I knew we was going to be successful because what we went through to get this fight is almost impossible.

It’s been well-documented how much you’ve gone through, how much you’ve sacrificed all the turmoil. Is it all worth it now, everything you’ve sacrificed to be here at this moment, undisputed lightweight champion?

Teofimo Sr: (30:09)
Man, I’ll do it again. I have no doubt, no regrets. I’m happy to get my son to where we wanted to go. This is just the beginning. I know my son, he’s not content yet. He wants to do better, bigger things. He wants to be pound for pound, the best fighter in the world and he’s going to be pound for pound real soon.

You mentioned 140 pounds. There’s a lot of guys at 135 that are close to moving up as well. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, even Javante Davis could be at 140 in the future I suppose. What do you think is going to be the mega fight for Teofimo Lopez in the future?

Teofimo Sr: (30:48)
All of them. All of them, but these guys, they got to do their thing. You know what I’m saying? We’ve been doing our thing. We don’t go backwards. I told my son, “We not in this sport to go backwards.” So these kids, they got to do their thing so they could come up to us and step up to the plate. I don’t want none of them losing because those are mega fights.

Hey, but look, you’re wearing the hat Nostradamus. Pick one fight. What is the mega fight in the sports, Teofimo Lopez versus who in a couple of years, or next year?

Teofimo Sr: (31:17)
I don’t even know, Devin Haney. I will say Devin Haney.

Thank you, Mike. And we go back to the Zoom calls, Marcos Viegas from Fight Hub TV. Marcos, please go ahead.

Marcos Viegas: (31:31)
Thanks Evan. Congratulations, Sr. I think all of us that have interacted with you, remember you telling us that your son would beat Lomachenko two or three years ago, whenever we would see you at the fights. I’m curious in terms of the game plan, what previous fights did you see vulnerabilities in Vasyl Lomachenko over with what you were explaining with?

Teofimo Sr: (31:56)
Well, I saw all the fights with Pedraza Linares and I saw something with Lomachenko every time he stepped in to the sides, he couldn’t do that with my son because my son had him double stepping back and he couldn’t go to that side the whole night. We took that away from him. From the moment that I knew he couldn’t do that, I knew that we had him. We stopped him from doing everything that he’s comfortable in there with. He’s used to fighting fighters that have their hands up, so it’s always easier for him to get inside the pocket and do his work. I was watching a lot of videos. Every time he would jump in, I told my son, “You got to hurt him to the body. You got to hurt him to the body.”

Teofimo Sr: (32:35)
We stood chasing that … Chasing the body, chasing the body the whole night. And I think that that hurt. He was hurt a lot of times, a lot of times he was ready to go. I think my son could have finished him. He decided not to, but I like it because, he gave, he gave him a whooping and that’s what we said that we was going to do.

Thank you Marcos. Just as a reminder, anybody wants to ask a question in the Zoom, please use the raise hand mechanism on the Zoom chat, and I will get to as many people as possible. Teofimo Jr should be joining us soon. But while we wait, we have a couple more questions for the trainer, the father. Hold on one second.

Teofimo Sr: (33:18)
I told you Kevin long time ago, my son was the best in the world. I remember.

Speaker 4: (33:23)
Miguel Marvia.

Next we go to Miguel Marvia. Miguel, please go ahead.

Miguel Marvia: (33:34)
Hey, first of all, Senior, congratulations, man.

Teofimo Sr: (33:38)
Thank you.

Miguel Marvia: (33:38)
Was there any concern … Going in late to the fight, was there any concern as far as before the scorecards were red being that Vegas is Vegas?

Teofimo Sr: (33:48)
Yeah, man. But it was a shot out. There was no way we could have get robbed with this fight. Even though they had it 160, 112 one of the cards, I thought that was ridiculous. I think the right score was one 119, 110. I could give him that. I think that that judge was watching the fight that he was … The fight that we had today. I think that he had the best score. But no, not at all, not at all. I wasn’t.

Okay. Next we go back to the press assembled here in the press room, Sam Gordon Review journal. Sam, please go ahead when ready.

Sam Gordon: (34:29)
As clinical of a performance as you guys put forth tonight, was there anything that moving forward you think he can build upon or do better? Anything that you thought that … I guess any mistakes that you felt that were made, that you guys can improve on going forward?

Teofimo Sr: (34:43)
Oh a lot. We got to improve way more. There’s a lot of things that he didn’t listen to me in there. A lot of stuff that I want him to do more, that’s going to make his fights easier, and we’re going to work on it. Next camp I’m just going to … I have to make him do the things that I tell them to do, because there was times in there that he had them, and I will tell him to shift, that’s something that we do to finish the fighter and he had so many opportunities to do it, but he decided not to. But anyway, I’m happy because he gave this guy a beating. He’s going to feel it tomorrow.

Speaker 5: (35:24)
[inaudible 00:00:35:22]. Say the score that you thought was the closest, did you mean 119 109 because it was a-

Teofimo Sr: (35:30)
Oh it was 109? Yeah.

Speaker 5: (35:31)
Yeah. It was 119 109, but it was a woman. You said he. I just wanted to make sure. Julie Letterman was the one-

Teofimo Sr: (35:36)
She’s the one that got it right. I thought that we were so much ahead in the fight. Going into the eight round, I told him, “Yo, you won every round. This guy could only stop you by knocking you out. So just be careful, stay composed. He’s going to try to take it to deep waters so just be careful, and watch your head because he’s trying to hit you with his head. He’s trying to headbutt you so just be careful.” And I told him, “You’re going to get cut. This guy’s going to cut you. Let’s take him out man. Take him out. Don’t let him do that to you.” And that happened, but it’s okay. I’m happy. It’s the best way we could have won. It’s better than knocking this guy out because now the world knows that this kid’s the best boxer out there and puncher.

Next we go back to zoom with Steve Keen, Steve, I know you have something to say to Senior. Steve, please go ahead.

Steve Keen: (36:30)
Teo, what’s going on?

Teofimo Sr: (36:31)
I told you baby, the takeover.

Steve Keen: (36:37)
I have a question, two questions. Number one, how much vindication do you feel over this victory?

Teofimo Sr: (36:41)
Man I’m 100% man of vindication. I started this with my son with nobody around me. He was a little kid. He was only four years old when I started this mission. It took us a long time, 18 years man, but we here. I’m so happy I don’t know. I have no words to explain man. I was walking around and I was like trying to pinch myself, make me believe. Am I dreaming man, don’t wake up. I was so excited, but yeah man I feel really happy for accomplishing this, but this is only the beginning.

Steve Keen: (37:16)
Teo my other question is this, I know the last couple of camps you guys have gone away to Flemington, New Jersey. I know your son has said, it’s more structured and you guys have your own private champ. It’s not like when I visited you guys last summer, which is a little bit crazy. In your view, how much of a difference has that made going to camp, where he wants to be in you’re both comfortable.

Teofimo Sr: (37:35)
Oh man Flemington is beautiful. Old dog boxing is just … It’s an amazing gym, amazing people, Bill everybody there, the whole staff, Heidi his wife, everybody was taking care of us, making sure that everything was there, equipment, everything cleaned, sanitized. We had a great camp and …

Teofimo Sr: (38:03)
…been sanitized. So we had a great camp and we might do it again over there. You never know.

Speaker 6: (38:07)
All right, Teo, thanks. By the way, I think you’re going to sleep with that WBC belt on tonight. That’s the feeling that I’m getting. Good night, guys.

Teofimo Sr: (38:13)
Yo about time, man, about time, man, how long did I wait for this? Everybody about Papa Chenko. Papa Chenko, here, Papa Chenko, there. I told everybody all that stuff that they do, man, it’s just to hype everybody up. I already knew it. So as long as I know it, I don’t care who says what. But now I just want Papa Chenko to go back to Ukraine and give his son a couple more dance lessons.

Speaker 6: (38:42)
Thanks guys.

Moderator: (38:43)
We got a couple more for Senior. And we move to Cameron Wolfe from espn.com. Cameron, please go ahead.

Cameron Wolfe: (38:52)
Hey, what’s up, man? I had a question. There was a lot said in the blood and sweat series about your relationship with Teo. He got emotional at one point, I wanted to get your view on maybe that and what’s your relationship with him is, and maybe how this win could help that.

Teofimo Sr: (39:09)
Well, listen, man, if it would have been the other way around, it would have been Lomachenko and his father, nobody would have said nothing. Everybody’s not going to be in love with each other every day. People have problems and me and my son fix these problems. I’m over here with him and his wife, everybody’s getting along. I got to do it for him because this is all about him. It’s not about nobody else. So I got to man up and I got to take my responsibilities to love what he loves and make him be happy. He deserves it. He went through a lot to get here with me and that’s the only way to do it. You got to stay focused and he did that today. And of course not, man, me and my son love each other. That’s my baby.

Moderator: (39:58)
Thank you, Cameron. We go to Adriana Jimenez. Adriana, please. Go ahead.

Teofimo Sr: (40:02)
[Spanish 00:40:16].

Andrea Janez: (40:02)
[Spanish 00:40:20].

Moderator: (41:12)
Sorry. That was Andrea [Janez 00:41:12] and next is Adriana Jimenez. Adriana, go ahead.

Thank you. Senior, first of all, congratulations on making history tonight. Tonight we saw a different side of your son. A side that we’re not used to seeing that often. Can you talk a little bit about that? And what does that say about him to be able to keep that mental focus from the beginning to the end?

Teofimo Sr: (42:04)
Well, he’d been saying this for the longest. He’s been saying I was a boxer before I was even a puncher. So I told him the most beautiful thing will be if you box the shit out of this guy. Sorry for my language, but I told him it will be amazing if you don’t knock him out and you just box him and beat him and every round it will be amazing. I could not believe the punches this guy was taking. I hope he’s okay tomorrow, because those were devastating punches. Anybody else would have been down on the floor.

Moderator: (42:38)
Thank you, Adriana. I’ve just been told that… Thank you guys. I’ve just been told that Teofimo Lopez is about a minute or two away. And Kevin, you got a question?

Kevin Iole: (42:52)
Clarify something. You said, Teofimo, you were talking about the headbutts. Do you think he was using that as a tactic?

Teofimo Sr: (42:58)
Of course.

Kevin Iole: (42:58)
Or do you think it was because of the difference in height of the fighters?

Teofimo Sr: (43:00)
Of course not. He does that. And that’s why we told the officials before the fight to watch him, because I peeped that in the Linares fights and almost all the fights. And he usually does that when he’s a little bit frustrated. And he was gunning for it. He was gunning for it. He wanted to cut him. He wanted a shirt. He wanted to make him uncomfortable in there, but it didn’t work. My son always stays composed. So I knew that wasn’t working.

Teofimo Sr: (43:27)
I didn’t even get nervous but there was some times there that he would walk in and start throwing those little patty-cake punches. And I got me a little bit worried with my son because I didn’t know whether he was going to be able to absorb all those headbutts and that’s why I wanted him to take him out or in the earlier rounds because I told him, “Listen, this guy’s going to cut you. I don’t want him to cut you. I don’t want him to hurt you with the head butts.” And he stood composed, man, the whole fight and we outclassed this guy. That’s why I don’t want no rematch. There’s no rematch clause for the same reason. Everybody thought he was going to win.

Moderator: (44:09)
Thank you, Kevin. I’ve just been told Teofimo is about a minute away. So Senior, come on down. When Junior arrives, you can come back on the stage to share the moment with your son. So just everybody wait around a couple of minutes and the new undisputed lightweight champion of the world will be-

Teofimo Sr: (44:25)
I just want to say thank you for being here for me and my son. Especially my son. And there’s bigger things to come. And I really like the support. Thank you for everything, guys.

Speaker 7: (44:41)
Yeah, the Te is here, baby. Go, Te. [inaudible 00:47:12].

Speaker 8: (44:41)
What are you doing here?

Hey, everybody, thank you so much for holding up the… We got to have some stitches going. So please welcome to the stage the new undisputed, lightweight champion of the world. And by far the youngest undisputed champion in the four belt era at only 23 years old. Teofimo Lopez, The Takeover.

Again on the Zoom call. I think it should be a ring announcer my next life, but Mark Shunock’s too good so I ain’t taking his job. We got some questions from the press up here. We will start with the man who named Teofimo a two-time prospect of the year, Kevin Iole. Kevin, please go ahead.

Kevin Iole: (47:51)
Congratulations, champ.

Teofimo Lopez Jr.: (47:53)
Thank you.

Kevin Iole: (47:54)
Were you happier the fact that you were able to outbox Vasily where everybody talked about what a great boxer he was, as opposed to landing something big in the first or second round and knocking him out. Do you feel you prove more of a point by going 12 rounds and outboxing him most of the way?

Well, first off, I want to say thank you guys for coming out here and for everyone tuning in right now, I’m thankful. What I noticed from Loma, I was trying to press, I was trying to make the fight and I noticed in the beginning of the round as he was just trying to warm up and try to adapt. And what I noticed afterwards, I picked up was that he was just trying to wait till the later rounds to come and press at me. So my father, who is my coach, and he does a tremendous amount of work on me and Joey Gamache alongside, he was like, “What are you doing?” I was like,” I’m staying composed because I know what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to take me to deep waters.” So I had to keep that extra wind for the later rounds.

Kevin Iole: (48:50)
And now that The Takeover is complete, what is phase two? Because The Takeover is done. You have taken over. What is the next step in this?

We’re going to Disney World. Honestly, man, we see where everything takes us from this point on, you know what I mean? I earned my damn respect. That’s what I think that I did. At 23 years young, I think now people could definitely, “Who is this?” This is Teofimo, The Takeover.

Speaker 9: (49:17)
Fimo, congratulations on the big win.

Yep.

Speaker 9: (49:21)
There were a lot of clashes of heads and it looked like at times he was leading with his head. You have a big cut over your left eye from it.

I know. Damn.

Speaker 9: (49:27)
What were you feeling in there? Did you feel like he was doing it on purpose or…

Yeah. A lot of it is that we were talking to Russell, the referee. And we told him that just to watch over for the head butts that Loma likes to tend to. When he goes inside, he’ll lift his big ass forehead, but shit happens. It is part of the sport. You know you’re going to get into wars sometimes. So my father told me in the last round to box him, and I knew that wasn’t a smart idea because I knew he was going to come. And the moment I stood my ground and I started pressing him back, he gave up, that was really what it is. He literally gave up and I saw it in his eyes. But then the cut happened, thankfully it happened in the last round 20 seconds or 30 seconds left in it. That way we were just able to finish off.

Speaker 9: (50:14)
Yeah. And also you made it look so easy over the first half of that fight. Obviously the fighting over the second half. Does it mean more that you won the title in such an action-packed fight?

I don’t even know what I did, honestly, man, I just wanted to stay composed throughout the whole course of it. Just keep him from not throwing so many punches. I knew that was his thing. And we had to make sure that we closed that gap or we find a way to at least keep throwing that stick, keep him away. And every time he was throwing his shots, I will allow him because what I was trying to do and what I did successfully in a few times was counter him and hurt him a few times. And I think he noticed that. He started taking his step back. He calmed down a little bit. He wanted to try again but I was ready for it.

Speaker 10: (51:04)
[crosstalk 00:51:04] Congratulations, Teofimo. There was a lot said between you guys toward the buildup and over the last couple of years about each other. Did he say anything respectfully toward you or anything at all towards you after the fight?

No, not at all. I went up to him. I said to his father, Papa Chenko, I was like, “Great fighter. Thank you for the work. Thank you guys.” And I told Loma, “I’m sorry.” Overall, I’m sorry, but we got the job done. You know what I mean? And I knew I won. I knew I won the fight and he just smiled and laughed, but that’s on his side. I fought people what they say was the pound for pound and I outboxed him. I won every round or at least most of the rounds to win it by unanimous decision. I’m thankful, man. I’m 23 years old, man, but that’s a true champion right there. Loma was a hell of a fighter. He knows what he’s doing, but his time is over. I told you guys, I’m smart when I’m in there. I’m going to take bumps and bruises. That’s part of it. Hey, shit happens. Like I said, this is the boxing world and I know what comes with it. So I dig down deep in those last rounds for a reason.

Speaker 10: (52:19)
I’m assuming I know the answer to this question, but just to be clear that if he wanted a rematch, would you entertain that at all?

For what? For what? I beat him. And I did everything that I had to beat him. If anything, it will happen again, the same thing. There was no rematch clause for a reason. They had it. Now I can talk my shit. They had it pretty much where they didn’t give me a rematch clause for a reason. And they gave me a contract on the side that pretty much said if you lose, this is what you’re going to get for your next fights. Pretty much predicting that I’m going to lose. So it’s fine. It’s fine. Now they just got to eat it, eat it up, suck it up. And now it’s time for us to take over and move forward. That’s it. I told y’all, man. Out with the old, in with the new.

Speaker 10: (53:06)
So one last question for you. Your dad said a few minutes ago that he would like to see you move up to 140, because it’s not easy for you to make 135. What is your opinion?

Honestly throughout this pandemic, the layoff and everything, of course it’s different. I’m a big 135 pounder, you know what I mean? Perfecting athletes who are my nutritionist. They definitely do their work and their math on me. And it’s not even just dropping weight drastically. It’s about making sure that my brain is fine and perfectly in good condition to make that weight. So I know I could make 135 again, that won’t be an issue. You know what I mean? As long as I stay consistent with everything. That’s why I’m building a house now with my wife and I’m very thankful for that. We’ve been doing it throughout the process of this fight, just so I can have that in my gym. I could have a gym in my house and stay consistent with my work. Who knows what the future holds. I would love to definitely unify at 140 and take all the belts and become undisputed champion back-to-back. Hell yeah.

Moderator: (54:13)
And one more for Mike.

Mike: (54:16)
You know, you mentioned 140. Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez are supposed to fight for all four belts at 140 early next year. Could that maybe be a fight for you you fight the winner and you go for undisputed back-to-back?

Absolutely. Absolutely. I think everybody was shook with Loma and people have too much respect for him. I think they see that I just bite down and I put the fight and I press on it. I don’t duck or dodge any of these guys. And I think that they don’t got the will to win like I do. So hell yeah, 140. If anything, it’s dangerous for them, man, because that’s where I’m really fully hydrated. I feel much better and I’m faster and I’m stronger than them.

Mike: (54:53)
It was certainly a great performance. Loma is a great fighter. How much better are you going to be now than you were before having gone 12 rounds with a guy like Loma and win?

Man, I learned from this, you know what I mean? I’m definitely going to go back to the drawing boards and get only better. You know what I mean? And that’s the whole key about it. Fighting these guys, man, they only make me better and I’m thankful to have the likes of Lomachenko and everything to be in the ring with them and actually pick up and learn what they got and just take it in and just work on being better for the next fight.

Mike: (55:27)
I know you have the utmost confidence in your ability, but was there anything you learned about yourself during this performance?

No, not at all. Honestly, I let him press here and there. I wanted him to get tired and I took some blows or whatever. I took some shots. They’re not going to be effective as much. You know what I mean? And the thing was because I’m going to get one of those shots in or two of those shots in and it’s going to hurt him. It’s going to slowly get him. And that’s what it was. The thing is, guys, I could take a shot and the thing is, I don’t care. If I get hit, I’m going to give you one back if not more. So that’s just my fighter in me.

Moderator: (56:03)
Thank you, Mike. We go to our first Zoom question. Cameron Wolfe, espn.com.

Hey, what’s up, Teo? How you doing, man?

What up?

I heard you talk… Nah, go ahead and take your water. I heard you talk a little bit about obviously you being 23 and getting this title at this point. A lot of times boxing gets criticism because people wait so long for the mega fights to happen. You anticipate being a champion that fights those mega fights when they need to happen rather than wait.

Absolutely. That’s how it should be. That’s why this new generation, you have the likes of Shakur Stevenson. You have the likes of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. You have the likes of so many other guys out there, young fighters. I have a list that I could give off of and that I grew up with in amateurs. And the fact is that this is the new generation we’re bringing back what the old school was, fight the best and you push on it.

… new generation. We’re bringing back what the old school was. Fight the best, and you push on it. I’m not here to pick and choose who I want to fight because I want to defend my title and to keep that O. No, nah.

And now, who knows where my figures are going to go up, if they’re going to go up after this? I mean, that’s the thing. Everyone wants to be like Mayweather. In order to be like Mayweather, you got to be like Pretty Boy first. You got to fight those guys that they don’t think that you’ll win. You got to fight the likes of those guys that are undefeated and is a good fight in order to make those types of millions that people want to make. Why you buying so many chains and all this at a early age? You’re not making nothing. You’re not making not a dollar. So, I mean, I’m just thankful that I’m able to be the first one to do that, and push for the young ones out there.

Evan: (57:47)
And next, we go to another Zoom question from the man who coined the term, the Teofimo Express, Steve Kim. Steve, please go ahead.

Steve Kim: (57:55)
Teo, congratulations on the victory. Here’s my question. I asked this of your father. How key has training camp in Flemington been for you, the last two fights?

It’s been amazing. It’s been remarkable. Shout out to Old Dog Boxing Club. I mean, to Heidi and Bill, thank you guys so much for having another… We had another successful camp out there in New Jersey. I mean, it’s been tremendous. It’s very calm out there, but now it’s a new thing. Next year, hopefully, God willing, our house will be done, and I’m going to have my gym in there. And that will be my new training facility, pretty much. And who knows, man? Start a family my wife and everything. So just taking everything one day at a time, taking this in right now, and, by tomorrow, we figure out something else. On to the next.

Evan: (58:46)
Thank you, Steve. And we go, next, to Michelle Phelps. Michelle, please go ahead.

Michelle Phelps: (58:53)
Hi, Teofimo. Congratulations, first and foremost.

Thank you.

Michelle Phelps: (58:58)
Now that you’ve shared the ring with Loma, was it what you expected, or did you expect something different from him?

I expected more. A lot of people were talking highly about him, and I expected more. Basic. It was pretty basic, honestly, overall. And maybe it was a 14-month layoff that did it. I don’t know. But I had 10 months’ layoff. So why does it matter? But I fought the guy that everybody says is the pound for pound, and everyone is very highly talked about. He’s going to be inducted to hall of fame for doing one thing, three-time fastest, three-time weight division champion, along with Clarissa Shields. But that’s it.

Everybody’s always going to remember this fight with me. You know what I mean? About Lomachenko, man, we talked the talk, and we walked the walk. That’s what I do, man. My father just doesn’t talk shit just to talk shit. You know what I mean? He believes in my abilities. I’m smart when I’m in there. And I peeped a lot of things, but facing someone like that, and doing what I did… You guys haven’t seen anything yet.

Keith: (01:00:11)
Wait. Who would you like to fight? There are obviously some attractive options there at lightweight. Who would you like to fight the most?

Teofimo Lopez Jr.: (01:00:18)
I don’t mind being the two-time email world champion. You know what I mean? That’d be fine. I know a lot of people are already saying that this is not for undisputed because of that, whatever with Mauricio Sulaiman and whatever he did. But I just got a belt that said “Franchise World Champion” from WBC. And you got a guy like Devin Haney fighting Gamboa, a washed-out Gamboa, just for a record that he wants to keep it safe and pretty. I can fight those guys. I don’t mind it.

Keith: (01:00:46)
Do you think Haney would fight you next, assuming he beats Gamboa?

I don’t care. I don’t think any of these guys would step up to the plate, and if they do, they better be ready because I don’t fear no man. I told you guys this. I don’t care. I’m in there to fight. And if you’re not there to fight with me, you’re going to lose, like Loma.

Evan: (01:01:08)
Thank you. Thank you, Keith. And Teofimo, we’ll-

Evan, why you so sad? I know you was Team Loma, but now you can be [crosstalk 01:01:14]. Come on.

Evan: (01:01:15)
I’m a top-rank employee.

Teofimo Express. What up? Say it. Say it.

Evan: (01:01:17)
But, Teofimo, you said “email champion.” Is it Hotmail or Gmail? I’m not sure. Next, we go to Jeremy heritages. Jeremy, please go ahead.

Jeremy Herriges: (01:01:26)
Hi, Teofimo. Congratulations on an excellent win.

Thank you.

As far as the way that Loma fought you, at least in the early going, did that surprise you at all, that he wasn’t throwing as many punches as usual? I don’t think he threw more than 20 punches until round seven. Did that surprise you at all?

No, it didn’t surprise me. The only thing that I noticed from it was that I picked up that he’s trying to take me to the later rounds, and he’s trying to just stay on his toes. He thinks that I’m a gas out, and a lot of the guys that do that, man, they end up failing from it. He thought that that would work for him. I’m a young cat. Yes, I am. But I told you I’m a shark. I go out there. You take me to deep waters, it’s going to reverse back on y’all. And if you ain’t know now, now you know. And that’s what it comes to.

I mean, the fact that it’s hard… And I’m sorry for everyone out there. It’s hard facing fighters like this, that don’t give you guys the excitement that I want to bring to you guys. I can only do my part, and that’s about it. And whoever I’m facing on that other side of the ring is what I could do. It’s tough facing somebody like the likes of Loma and doing things like that in the beginning of half the fight, the half of the rounds and everything. But I’m happy, and I’m lucky, and I’m thankful that we got the job done.

During-

Evan: (01:02:49)
One more, Jeremy.

During the end or, at least, towards the end of the fight, how fatigued were you feeling? Did you feel relatively fresh at that point? Was there any point where you felt like you needed a second wind to kick in?

No, I felt good. Overall, what I did was I baited him in to get that. He tried to take me to the deep waters, and what I did, I reversed it on him by letting him tee off, whatever, and let him get comfortable, but let him get tired. I started hearing him huff and puff. Little by little, I started realizing he was gassing out. And every time we sat down in the corner, he would take big, deep breaths. And I noticed that. I always look at my opponent and seeing what they doing, once they sit down for the next round.

And I noticed that with him. So I stood composed. That was my whole thing. In order to do what you got to do, I have that second wind. I have all that already lined up. I have that third wind if I need to. So I was two steps ahead on Lomachenko. That’s what it came to. And that’s what made me win the fight tonight.

Evan: (01:03:53)
Thank you. Only a few more questions left. The champion wants to get back to celebrate with his family, but we have a few more questions. And we will move… So one question each, from now on, so we can get through as many people as possible. Sean Zittel, you’re up next, Sean, go ahead.

Fight Hype.

Sean Zittel: (01:04:09)
Hey, Teofimo. Congratulations, Teo. Hey, man, real quick. [inaudible 01:04:16] we got Shawn Porter. Very proud of you as well, watched the fight tonight.

Shawn Porter: (01:04:21)
Absolutely. Good job.

Sean Zittel: (01:04:24)
But, Teo, you mentioned Devin, after the fight. Great performance. Is that a fight that you want at 135 or does that deserve a buildup to it being a mega fight at 140 or even 147?

If I took that fight, it’s just for bragging rights, just to shut him up and destroy his career. That’s really what it is. I don’t care. That’s the type of person I am. I’m not here to see another fighter build up his career. If he wants to take that step and fight, I’m more than happy to just take him out that route of what everybody’s talking about, saying, “the next Floyd Mayweather” and stuff like that. Yeah. Get out of here with that bullshit.

And for everyone else out there, man, everybody is cherry picking. Gervonta Davis, why are you fighting Leo Santa Cruz? For what? That’s a 130-pounder or a 126-pounder. That’s sad, man. And you guys hype these guys up for so many things, but it’s okay. It’s okay. Just put them in front of me, and I’ll beat them.

Evan: (01:05:22)
And next up, we go to ESPN Deportes, Salvador Rodriguez. Salvador, please go ahead. Thank you, Sean.

Salvador Rodriguez: (01:05:29)
Thanks so much, Evan. I want to say in Spanish for [Spanish 00:08:31]?

[Spanish 00:08:54]. If one of them win, [Spanish 00:09:25].

Evan: (01:06:31)
Thank you, Salvador. And next, well, it seems this is from the UK. It’s God knows what hour of the night/morning. Jonathan Nagioff. Jonathan, go ahead.

Jonathan Nagioff: (01:06:41)
Hi, Teofimo. John here from Proboxing Fans.

What up, baby?

It’s 7:00 am here. Congratulations, man. A lot of people were saying, obviously, before the fight, and will continue to say that Lomachenko is one of… if not the pound-for-pound best in the world.

Still?

With the performance you put in tonight, where do you think that ranks you now?

Top 10. I’ll be in the top 10. That’s fine with me. I’m okay with that. We still got a lot more to do, and there’s so much more that I want to accomplish. This is just the beginning. I’m not satisfied with this. I definitely want to collect more, and I’m just going to enjoy today, take it all in. And when I go to sleep and I wake up, I’m just going to move on to the next thing, what’s next, that task that I can achieve and overcome.

By the way, good morning. And thank you for staying up this early or this late to talk to me. I appreciate each and every one of you guys out there in the UK and all that. Eventually, hopefully, once COVID is done with or we can have those travel bans out of the way, we could make a fight happen in the UK.

Evan: (01:07:50)
And next, we have Cameron Wolfe.

Cameron Wolfe: (01:07:54)
Hey, Teofimo, just kind of listened to you talk. I know you probably want to have sort of this star power. What do you sort of think about your crossover potential, the ability to be maybe a star, not just in boxing, but throughout all of sports?

A lot of people were talking about that. My team, everybody throughout this whole week, was talking about the fact that I’m going to be a big superstar after winning and beating him. But I didn’t listen to that. The same thing… I was promised a lot of things, endorsement-wise and everything, after beating Commey and becoming world champion, winning my first world title at Madison Square Garden.

So I don’t think anybody’s going to tune in on that. I don’t think anybody wants to sponsor me, man. It’s fine, though. You know what I mean? I’m going to say that, if it comes, it comes, and I’m thankful for it. I don’t know why, man. I don’t know. Am I doing something wrong? I feel like that’s probably what I’m doing. I’m doing something wrong, but it’s okay.

Jeff: (01:08:55)
Okay. We’re still waiting for Evan to come back and get a couple more questions.

I don’t want [inaudible 01:08:56].

Jeff: (01:09:02)
Teo, you said-

Nobody gives me my fair share. I don’t know why, man. I’ve been dealing with this shit for so long.

Jeff: (01:09:08)
You said you were going to… You told me, a couple years ago, you were going to beat Lomachenko. You did it. Congratulations.

Thank you, Jeff.

Speaker 11: (01:09:46)
Teo, [Spanish 00:12:20].

[Spanish 00:12:21].

Speaker 12: (01:10:21)
Teofimo, [Spanish 01:09:31]?

[Spanish 00:13:01], it hit. Now we come back with four or five titles. [ Spanish 00:13:29]. Yeah, it’s just important to me. [Spanish 00: 13:51].

Speaker 11: (01:11:04)
Translation is “I feel very proud of this moment. The first time around, in December, we did it for Honduras. And we were supposed to go before the pandemic hit, but now we’re coming back to bring more joy and more happiness to my people. We’re bringing all the belts, and this is very important to me because this is what really matters to me, bringing joy and happiness to my country.”

Why is that, though? Can I ask you guys that? Why is it? I do all that I can. No one gives me my fair share. When is it going to be enough for y’all? Honestly, I do a lot. I do a lot.

Speaker 13: (01:11:45)
[inaudible 00:14:45].

It ain’t even enough. And you know why? And that’s why I take… Nothing in life is promised. I don’t take this, and not let it get to my head. I’m onto the next. This isn’t enough for me because… You know why? I thank you all for that.

Evan: (01:12:05)
And-

No, no, no. But you guys made me stronger. USA Boxing has made me stronger from winning the US Olympic trials, Rio Olympics, when they did so much corruption shit on us. They made me stronger. Coming into the pros, you guys have made me stronger. So I thank you for it, but understand this. I’m tired of the shit. Give me my damn respect. That’s it. All right? And I thank you guys. I’m going to end it with that. I appreciate each and every one of you guys tuning in, but come on, man. Give me a break, yo.

Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teófimo López Post-Fight Press Conference Transcript

Other Related Transcripts

Stay updated.