Teofimo Lopez Talks Upcoming Fight Vs Sandor Martin, Taking Over 140 LB Division, Headlining MSG, And Beef With Devin Haney

Teofimo Lopez returns to the ring on Sat Dec 10th, to face off against Sandor Martin in his second fight at 140 pounds nearly over a year after losing his 135-pound titles to George Kambosos Jr. at 135.

We sat down with Lopez before his big fight on Saturday, which will take place at Madison Square Garden, and will air on ESPN/ESPN+ on 9pm EST after the Heisman ceremony, to talk about his matchup vs Sandor Martin, his desire to take over the 140-pound division, and his beef with Devin Haney.

On fight week, Lopez is itching to put on a show for his home crowd at MSG.

“I’m feeling truly blessed, I’m very thankful for today and just can’t wait to really put on a show. So I’m a New Yorker, and everyone out here in Madison Square Garden, this is my home. I’m looking forward to really taking over and just showing everyone that I am truly the best, most entertaining fighter in the game.”

Lopez believes Sandor Martin is a great matchup to test where he’s currently at in the 140-pound division while the rest of the division clears up.

“It’s a great matchup. This is the guy that we actually wanted to fight In the meantime, while everybody is occupied with their own dance partner at the moment… if you guys don’t know Josh Taylor, he’ll be fighting again against Jack Catterall part two in February, and then Regis Prograis was facing Jose Zapeda, so a lot of top-caliber fighters in this division at 140. However, the best option we had at the moment was Sandor Martin I mean, he just came off of a highly decorated win against one of the best, arguably one of the best Mexican fighters of this era in Mikey Garcia a four-divisional champion, a world Champion”

This match-up is great for myself. It’ll show where my mindset is at now, taking over at 140. Is this the takeover? or is this another repeat of last year’s defeat?”

Teofimo did have some harsh words for 135-pound undisputed champ Devin Haney after the two took shots at each other on social media in recent weeks.

“We don’t like each other. I don’t like him. I really don’t. I don’t like his father. I don’t like him as a fighter. I don’t think that he has the skill sets, I don’t think that he has what it takes to be a true champion. Even if he beat Kambosos. Anybody could have been Kambosos that day. Just being honest and people explain about my part. My part is I was very ill going into that fight. So things like that, I believe that it will definitely come around, Me and Devin Haney will definitely face each other eventually in the near future. Right now, He has a lot on his hands right now. He has to defend all his undisputed titles against Vasiliy Lomachenko who is one of the best fighters of today’s era.”

For those tuning in on December 10th on ESPN, Lopez plans to steal the show once again.

“You’re going to see the 21 years of experience that I’ve had in this boxing game. You’re going to see the blood, sweat, and tears and how devoted I am really determined to really put everything on the line for everyone. I’m a showman, and I’m here to steal the show once again, and it’s mine.”

You can catch Lopez vs Martin live on ESPN and ESPN+ on December 10th at 9pm EST after the Heisman ceremony.