SQUARED CIRCLE LOVE TRIANGLE
Keith and Mike to do all the talking. I do see myself as a star. I expect to be treated like a star. I won’t say anything about Top Rank, but the problem here is – his name rhymes with ‘odd.’ I don’t think he likes me. I know he does not like us (Team Lopez). I don’t think there is any question about it: We know it. All I can say is, ‘God bless. May God bless ‘Odd.’” “Odd” is obviously Top Rank President Todd duBoef. “No one here [at Top Rank] hates Teofimo,” said Goodman. “We followed him since the amateurs, and I remember him turning pro. Boxing people said that they felt he was not all that, but I was actually impressed with his pro debut. I thought he showed a ton of composure, I know [Top Rank CEO] Bob [Arum] liked him. We signed him and moved him fast. He did not need to be groomed. We were always impressed with his ability. No, no one here hates him at all. We wish him all the best and we definitely want him to stay at Top Rank.” Armed with a background in finance, Connolly is a hard-nosed negotiator known for garnering his clients purses that they normally would not receive. He reportedly got Derevyanchenko more than $5 million to fight Gennadiy Golovkin in October 2019. He got limited heavyweight fringe contender Adam Kownacki a multimillion-dollar deal with Premier Boxing Champions, and he continues to handle the careers of Berlanga, Hitchins, Conor Benn, Alycia Baumgardner and Filip Hrgovic with aplomb. “When you look at everything Teo has done, what is there not to like?” said Connolly. “He’s done everything, and he is only 27. My first impressions of Teofimo are that he is very intelligent, misunderstood, a great personality for the sport, a pound- for-pound type of talent, and he is a polarizing figure, and I mean that in a good way. He is a combination
of one of the most skilled and most charismatic figures in the sport.” One area that Connolly, Borao and Team Lopez all agreed on is that he has reached a stage in his career where he wants only big fights – and they believe he possesses the cachet to demand them. It starts with Hitchins, who won the IBF 140-pound title by scoring a split decision over Liam Paro on December 7, 2024, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “We want to move Teo fast,” said Connolly. “Big fights, and only big fights, are the priority. We are talking to Top Rank and the higher-ups in the Saudi Arabia group that has done so “When you look at everything Teo has done, what is there not to like?” much for boxing. I would like to solve any problems he has with Top Rank, if any, and make big fights.” Getting past Hitchins to those big bouts won’t be easy, according to Connolly. “If Teo gets through the next three [planned bouts], he will be one of the biggest stars in the sport, if not the biggest. But I don’t care what anyone says about Richardson; the guy is very hard to beat,” he said. “Richardson can beat any 140-pound fighter in the world. It would be a very hard night for me if they do fight each other, but they both want the fight. My job is to give my fighters what they want.” The ‘Dream Team’ Lopez is talking to Canelo Alvarez’s renowned trainer, Eddy Reynoso, and respected amateur coach Milton LaCroix about joining his team.
Lopez Sr. will remain a vital part of the training camps, but Reynoso and LaCroix, who has worked with former heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs and recently Logan Paul, would be on hand to instill anything he misses. “We are still talking right now,” said Lopez Sr. “We don’t know where this will go, because we need to sit down and create a collaborative group plan, but it is a dream team.’ We need Eddy for special things. I think he can bring out even more power with my son. I’ll be in charge of movement and placing, because I do know my son. Eddy and Milton will add a pair of experienced eyes that we respect. I cannot see everything. If I miss something, they will see it.” Lopez Sr. deserves credit for being willing to step aside, to a degree, to allow other voices to be heard. “We had a couple of sessions with Eddy, and it was beautiful,” he said. “This can be something special. Eddy will be our power guy, and Milton will be our finesse guy, polishing the speed side of my son’s game. I will be the eyes and look over everything. We have a dream team, and we’ll have fun.” For now, Lopez Jr. will play the maestro. He’ll play to the crowd. He says he’s far smarter than he lets on. It’s something McWater picked up quickly, as did Borao and Connolly when they first met him. “Let people think I’m a dumb fuck,” said Lopez Jr. “I know I’m not. That’s what is important. I’d rather not let people know how smart I am. I still look back at that night in the hospital [after the Kambosos fight] with the tubes in me and my family upset. I looked around to see who was there for me. That’s what we were arguing over. Now I’m surrounded by people who will be there for me.”
I’ve said it a million times: The only one who could get in his way is himself. He knows that.” New management Early this year, Lopez separated from longtime manager David McWater, who was responsible for getting Lopez the Lomachenko fight, and partnered with
the management team of Connolly and Borao. The Lopezes admired Connolly for the work he’s done moving the careers of former middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs and super middleweight standouts Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Edgar Berlanga, as well as Hitchins. “Those are two smart business guys who know the sport of boxing
and know how to make their clients money,” said Lopez Jr. It’s no secret that Lopez has had a volatile relationship with Top Rank since the company signed him out of the amateurs in late 2016. “This lifts another weight off of me,” Lopez Jr. said. “I’m focusing on not having any contact with Top Rank. I’ll let Keith and Mike handle that. I told
Joseph Santoliquito is an award- winning sportswriter and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow @JSantoliquito [twitter.com]
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