Teofimo Lopez On The 'Old School' Fighter Who Impresses Him And The Bivol-Beterbiev Trilogy [Exclusive]

Teofimo Lopez, the reigning WBO and The Ring light welterweight champion, spoke with KO on SI about the recent Last Crescendo event, which showcased the undisputed light heavyweight title clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Joseph Hammond / KO On SI

Teofimo Lopez, who holds the WBO and The Ring light welterweight titles, spoke to KO on SI about the recent “Last Crescendo” card which featured the undisputed light heavyweight title match between Artur Bieterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Lopez, for his part, would love to see the two meet one more time to complete an undisputed trilogy for the light heavyweight championship.

“I haven’t [ever] seen a trilogy [in the four belt era] for undisputed title event or even a [trilogy] showcase in I don’t know how long.”

- Teofimo Lopez

Its true trilogies in boxing have been rare in recent years. The trilogy between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury for the Unified Heavyweight title ended in 2021. Canelo Alvares and Gennady Golovkin fought a trilogy with the last chapter in 2022.

By then, Golovkin was a fraction of his former self. Archie Moore and Mathew Saad Muhammad, among other light heavyweight greats, were involved in a number of trilogies in their careers, but it has been decades since the light heavyweight division saw a significant one.

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Lopez also told KO on SI he was most impressed with Agit Kabayel on the card. Lopez was impressed with Kabayel’s old-school lumberjack-like approach to attacking the body, which he displayed against Zhang Zheili in Riyadh and consistently applied throughout his career.

“That’s old school…You chop down the tree, the rest will follow,” Lopez said.

Kabayel stopped Zeng Zhili of China in the 6th round on body shots for the interim WBC heavywieght title.

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