Why do they call Teofimo Lopez ‘The Takeover’? The story behind the nickname
One of the more talented boxers around, the American is as quick as he is confident, which is probably the reason why he’s got an interesting nickname.
While it remains clear that he’s one of the best in the business today, it’s also been equally clear in recent fights that he’s not the same fighter that pulled off a major upset against Vasiliy Lomachenko back in 2020.
Follow live the clash between Josh Taylor & Teófimo López
Why is Teofimo Lopez called The Takeover El Brooklyn?
At 25 years old, Teofimo Lopez is still a young gun in the world of boxing albeit a fairly powerful one. A former unified lightweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from 2019 to 2021, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and The Ring magazine titles from 2020 until 2021. Interestingly, as an amateur, he actually represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
This is all to say that we know he’s good, but where did the nickname come from? Well, according to the OCR who first gave the low down on the reason behind his choice in Monniker, it comes from the belief that he held long before his professional career began, that he would one day be a star of boxing. To be fair, from his legendary fight against Lomachenko, to his solid performance in the split-decision win over Sandor Martin, he’s looked the part. On the other hand, it would also be fair to say that the focus and intensity that he displayed in his earlier fights have been missing in recent ones. Indeed, he was caught on camera in the ring immediately after the Martin fight asking his team, “Do I still got it?” As he prepares to face Josh Taylor on Saturday night, he is currently sitting on a record of 18-1 with 13 wins coming via KO.
Teofimo Lopez also calls himself the “Einstein of Boxing”
Believe it or not, he actually does. Citing his mental approach to fighting, the American has always been vocal about the way in which he uses his mind to defeat his opponents. While we’ll admit his choice of nickname does raise an eyebrow, the Brooklyn boxer is currently one of the best in a stacked division, so we’ll give him his due.