Arnold Barboza Jr. was recently on the Shoe Shine Boxing podcast in which he stated where a potential future fight is with Teofimo Lopez.
“I am tired of bringing up that guy,” said Barboza Jr. in an exhausted tone.
This comes in the same week that Barboza had gone on the popular DAZN Boxing Show to voice his frustration about his inability to secure a fight against Teofimo Lopez, who recently moved up to the 140 lbs division.
“[Teofimo Lopez] did another interview and called me a tuneup fight for January and right when he said tuneup fight that’s when it got me mad,” Barboza said on The DAZN Boxing Show. “Then all the talk about how he right away wanted to come into the division and fight for all four belts when it’s, like, he hasn’t done sh!t in our division. Know what I mean? I’ve worked my whole life to get to where I’m at in my division. So that was another disrespect, slap in the face.”
Barboza, who climbed his way up the Top Rank Inc leader start on the smaller L.A. club shows to now becoming a certified main eventer is awaiting his big opportunity, one he thought would be against Teofimo Lopez, but now seems more than likely unable to happen.
“[Teofimo Lopez] probably sees me as too much of a big risk and not reward,” Barboza said. “I mean everyone that he wants to fight is not available. He’s talking about big fish, I mean I’m on top of the division too if you look at all the rankings I’m on the top. All the guys ahead of me aren’t available, so I don’t see any other fight that makes sense for him.”
Barboza Jr., who defeated previously unbeaten Danielito Zorrilla this summer, is now hoping to return, but with few dates remaining on the 2022 calendar - it appears that Teofimo Lopez’s rumored December return date is the only card he could be slotted on, and the prizefighter is not all that optimistic that he will face Lopez if he is on that card.
“He just came off of a loss with Kambosos. To me, if you come off a loss you gotta work your way back up. I think he needs to fight a legit ranked contender in the 140-pound division before he can talk about getting all four belts. Like I said, he’s a little spoiled right? He feels a little entitled, but I know Top Rank wants to make the fight happen, so I think it’s just a matter of him accepting or he doesn’t.”
