Teofimo Lopes told the media today that he’s NOT racist and that people had mistakenly thought he was the one that sent the bananas to Keyshawn Davis’ dressing room the week of his fight with Denys Berinchyk.
Crawford Talk
WBO lightweight champion Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) cleared up some of the comments he made about Terence Crawford. He says they spoke already about it and he let him know he’s just trying to set up a fight with him.
For Teofimo to have any chance of possibly getting a big mega-fight against Crawford, he’s got to win his upcoming match against Arnold Barboza Jr. on May 2nd at Times Square in New York. That important fight could lead to him facing Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October.
“I think Tank did what he had to do. It was a great fight. I think they should do a rematch,” said Teofimo Lopez to the media when asked about his thoughts on last Saturday’s fight between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach. “I felt Roach did enough as far as combinations, but it doesn’t really matter at this point. It’s boxing business, guys,” said Lopez when asked what he thought about Tank taking a knee in the ninth.
Lopez is one of the few people that felt that WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis did enough to win his fight against Lamont Roach last Saturday. Teofimo didn’t seem too concerned about Tank taking a knee and the referee blowing the call in the ninth.
“I still think Gervonta will win against Shakur. Me and Crawford linked up. So, we already discussed whatever it is. He asked me what this is all about, and I said, ‘I’m trying to get a fight against all of you guys. I’m trying to fight you at 154,’” said Teofimo about him clearing things up with Terence Crawford about some of the racist comments he’d made in the media.
“The whole thing was pretty much this. He’s [Crawford] not going to fight nobody until he gets Canelo, which is in September and at the Allegiant Stadium [in Las Vegas]. So all of these things are out the window for me. So, all I can do now is get a sparring session, I guess [with Crawford].”
Teofimo will have to win all three of his fights on his contract with Turki Alalshikh for him to have a chance of fighting Crawford because he’s not going to bother facing him if he’s beaten. Some fans believe Teo will lose all three of his fights with his contract with Turki.
Racism Denial
“They don’t hate the good ones. They had the great ones,” said Lopez when asked about the people the question his achievements. “That’s just part of it. It’s competition and currency. No matter what it is, I’m a champion. I’m the only champion [at the Fatal Fury press conference] at this table. I’m all by myself.
“We’re all racists, each one of us. Do you know why? Because we’re against the one true race that matters the most. The human race. We’re all divided, all of us. 10,000 religions all of us. We’re all black. I got an Africa tattoo. I got Africa right there. They said the first human being was a monkey named Lucy. I’m not racist. That’s not racist,” said Teofimo when asked why he says racist stuff.
“It’s how you guys take it. A banana is potassium. You guys portray an item. You guys added a stereotype. All I did with the banana eating and laughing at it. You thought that I sent that s***,” said Teofimo about the media and fans believing he’d sent a box of bananas to Keyshawn Davis’ hotel room the week of his fight against WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk on February 14th.
Last Updated on 03/04/2025
