Teofimo Lopez Sr., the father and trainer of the former WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez, gave an emotional interview after his son's devastating defeat to Shakur Stevenson.
The fight, held on January 31 as part of the Ring VI boxing evening in New York, ended with Stevenson's confident victory by unanimous decision of the judges (119-109 three times).
According to Lopez Sr., the audience in the ring saw "not at all" the Teofimo he knows and trained.
"Congratulations to Shakur on a well-deserved victory. But this was not my son. Not my son at all. I'm still shocked by what I saw," the coach said.
He believes that psychological pressure from the media and promoters before the fight played a key role in the poor performance:
"Even before the fight, all the TV networks, journalists, and insiders were already discussing that Shakur would fight someone else in May - with the winner of our fight. That is, they were deciding in advance that Teofimo would lose. I'm sure that this greatly affected him, got into his head. All of it together impacted how he fought."
Lopez Sr. also denied rumors about his alleged intoxication and missing the press conference before the fight:
"They say I got drunk and that's why I didn't attend the press. No. I was just resting and recovering. No alcohol. I haven't drunk for a long time. It's all part of the same campaign to create unnecessary pressure around us."
Despite the lopsided score and criticism towards the corner (including for rather simple and emotional tips during the fight), Teofimo Lopez Sr. made it clear that the story doesn't end here. He emphasized his son's youth, his experience, and his potential for a comeback - possibly already in the welterweight category.
