By: Hans Themistode
Going into the Vasilily Lomachenko contest, Teofimo Lopez Sr., trainer and father of Teofimo Lopez, knew good and well that they were facing a tall task. Most of the boxing world expected the father-son duo to come up short this past October.
Those thoughts, of course, didn’t come true as Lopez Sr. devised a game plan that left the world-class skills of Lomachenko useless. While he always believed that his son would win, in the back of his mind, Lopez Sr. went into their showdown understanding and respecting the Ukrainian’s ability.
In the case of mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. on the other hand, Lopez Sr. believes his chances of defeating his son are slim to none.
“That’s an easy fight for my son. I don’t see him lasting more than three rounds,” said Lopez Sr. during an interview with FightHype. “I’m not even worried about this guy. I haven’t even looked at video of him but I will once the camp starts on March 29th.”
For Kambosos Jr., the undefeated Australian has worked his way up the rankings over the past few years. Wins over Richard Pena and former world champion Mickey Bey pushed him into a title eliminator with former belt holder Lee Selby. Kambosos Jr. (19-0, 10 KOs) would go on to win their contest and has since called for his shot against Lopez.
In the mind of Lopez Sr., Kambosos Jr. should be careful what he wishes for. Although he has yet to dissect tape on his future opponent in-depth, Lopez Sr. did admit that he has tuned in to a few of his fights. While watching, he grew even more confident that his son will walk right through his man.
For those who are impatient and refuse to wait until early June to see how their contest plays out, Lopez Sr. has a solution. Simply go online and rewatch a matchup that took place two years ago with his son and fringe contender Diego Magdaleno.
Once fans rewatch their contest, there will be no need to tune in to watch his son take on Kambosos Jr. as the outcome will be virtually the same.
“He fights a lot like Magdaleno. The Kambosos fight is going to be like the Magdaleno fight.”
Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) would go on to hand a vicious beating to Magdaleno before punctuating their contest with a seventh-round highlight reel level knockout. But while Lopez Sr. expects much of the same, he won’t skip any steps in their preparation.
“We’re going to get ready, we don’t take no chances. I always train my son like we’re fighting the best world champion in the world.”