Teofimo Lopez and Jaron 'Boots' Ennis might face off in a big boxing match soon. The fight between the WBO super-lightweight champ and the unified WBA and IBF welterweight titleholder is getting a lot of attention in boxing circles.
Lopez, the former unified lightweight champion, recently defended his WBO super-lightweight title. He outpointed Arnold Barboza Jr, who hadn't lost before, in a twelve-round fight on May 2 in New York City's Times Square. Now, at 27, Lopez is thinking about moving up to welterweight, but he might try to unify the 140-pound division first.
Ennis, known as 'Boots', just added the WBA welterweight title to his IBF belt. He stopped Eimantas Stanionis in the sixth round at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. This win strengthened Ennis' reputation as one of boxing's brightest talents. He's still unbeaten in his career.
Legendary promoter Bob Arum shared his thoughts on the potential matchup. In an interview, he said:
"I think [Lopez] is very much an underdog. But that's why they do the fights … Teofimo is for the money, and you can't blame him. So his next fight will be for the biggest money fight for him, which is probably Ennis."
Arum thinks Lopez will be at a disadvantage against Ennis. But he understands that Lopez is after the biggest payday, which an Ennis fight would likely bring.
Lopez has options. He could jump straight into a fight with Ennis. Or, he might spend the next year or so trying to become a unified champion at super-lightweight, just like he did at lightweight.
Meanwhile, Ennis could keep unifying titles at welterweight while Lopez potentially does the same at super-lightweight.
The fight looks likely to happen sooner rather than later. Turki Alalshikh from Riyadh Season has shown interest in making it happen. We'll have to wait and see how it all unfolds.
