Matchroom Boxing/Cris Esqueda,
Teofimo Lopez will no longer make any insensitive, racist remarks in the future.
Last year, Lopez found himself in hot water when he told boxing reporter Broadway Joel that he would fight “whichever monkey wants to get the banana!” when asked about which boxer he would like to face off in the ring.
Lopez would later deny that he was being racist and was just trying to get other fighters to fight him.
“I’m not talking about everyone. I’m not talking about people’s color. I’m really just trying to get at these guys so they can at least bark a little bit, so we can make a fight.”
On Saturday night, Lopez faced off against Shakur Stevenson and got absolutely dominated for 12 rounds.
SHAKUR WOULDN’T BE DENIED 😤
Highlights from Shakur Stevenson’s dominant decision victory over Teofimo Lopez 👏
The Ring VI | Buy now at https://t.co/AxmwuHu4GB 🥊 pic.twitter.com/6DhPL3hBMA
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) February 1, 2026
After the fight, Lopez spoke about his loss and bizarrely apologized for slavery during his post-fight interview.
To all my brothers and sisters, I love you guys, always salute to the power that be above, and thank you guys, I never wanted to harm you guys, so my condolences to all you guys, and to the slavery and everything that’s ever happened.
Teofimo Lopez apologizes for slavery after losing to Shakur Stevenson pic.twitter.com/KVxjRfwHEv
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) February 1, 2026