Teofimo Lopez gave promoter Eddie Hearn a reminder today, telling him that DAZN will no longer be showing boxing within five years, and he says it’s going to happen “whether” he likes it or not.
Lopez accurately predicted that Showtime would get out of boxing, and sure enough, he was correct. Now, he’ll be looking to be two for two in his predictions of networks leaving the sport.
Some boxing fans believe Teofimo (19-1, 13 KOs) is still salty about his twelve round split decision loss to George Kambosos Jr in 2021, which was shown on DAZN, and he feels that he should have been given the win in that fight.
If Teofimo’s prediction of DAZN leaving boxing comes true, it’s difficult to understand how he would gain from this happening other than giving him the pleasure to gloat about Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing company being left without a network.
Teofimo should be focusing on trying to keep his career above water, as up until recently, he’d looked terrible in three consecutive fights, being given a controversial win over Sandor Martin last December, struggling against fringe contender Pedro Campa and losing to Kambosos Jr.
Most boxing fans believe Teofimo should have had a second loss in his fight with Martin but was given a questionable win while fighting in his backyard in New York. In Teofimo’s last fight, he resurrected his career with a victory over the faded, past his best Josh Taylor, who was coming off a controversial win over Jack Catterall.
If Top Rank had matched Teofimo against a good light welterweight like Arnold Barboza Jr., Gary Antuanne Russell or Regis Prograis, he’d be pretty much done and ready to be trimmed from the promotional roster.
In the long run, it’s better for Teofimo that DAZN show the sport because if he ever wears out his welcome with Top Rank and ESPN, he might need another network to find a refuge.
Having more networks helps the sport, and that would in turn give Teofimo more options in case the bottom drops out with his current situation with Top Rank. If they get tired of Teofimo’s act and give him the boot, he’d be happy that DAZN is there and will gladly come to Hearn’s doorstep, asking for help.
If DAZN is still in existence in the boxing realm in five years, Teofimo could need it because he would be in his 30s, youth gone, skills eroding, and likely on his last legs.
Obviously, DAZN raising the subscription price to over $200 annually wasn’t a popular move, especially given all the YouTuber stuff that they’ve been showing.
Serious boxing fans aren’t into paying top dollar having YouTuber fights being shown on DAZN PPV.
