Teofimo Lopez is finalizing a deal to defend his WBO light welterweight title against former IBF champ Subriel Matias on March 15th. If the fight gets made, Lopez-Matias will headline on ESPN+ PPV.
This is a tough fight for Teofimo, who has had a couple of close calls in fights against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin since 2022.
“Teofimo Lopez and Subriel Matias are finalizing a deal for a March 15 fight for Lopez’s WBO junior welterweight title, sources told ESPN. Fight will headline ESPN+ PPV. No location yet for this action fight between one of the sport’s top fighters and a former champion,” said Mike Coppinger on X.
Lopez-Matias is still far from being negotiated. Dan Rafael said he was told this by Top Rank: “It’s soooooo far from getting done. Yes, there’s been conversations — but miles apart.”
That sounds like a typical negotiation involving Teofimo, who talks a lot about wanting the big names but never fights any of them. His pricing himself out of this fight would sound about right, especially because it involves risk.
Teofimo hasn’t been in a high-risk fight since his narrow win over an injured, one-armed, and much smaller Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. His loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021 and his close, controversial wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz were in fights he was supposed to win.
It’s not the huge fight Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) has been pushing for from his Top Rank promoters, nor one that’s pay-per-view worthy. Still, it’s an excellent one for the hardcore boxing fans familiar with the former IBF champion Matias (21-2, 21 KOs), who lost his title earlier this year in a 12-round decision defeat to Liam Paro on June 15th.
Paro roughed up Matias, shoving, holding, hitting behind the head, and using movement to win an ugly decision. Matias came back to win his last fight, stopping Roberto Ramirez in the second round on November 9th.
