Teofimo Lopez reveals how Mike Tyson inspired him to knock out Pedro Campa in his 140 lbs debut
Teofimo Lopez has expressed his gratitude to Mike Tyson for calling him before his 140 lbs debut against Pedro Campa and motivating him to win.
Lopez stopped Campa last night in the seventh round in Las Vegas after more than nine months out of the ring. 'The Takeover' showcased his phenomenal punching power by dropping his experienced opponent before landing a flurry of punches to end the contest.
Watch the fight highlights of Teofimo Lopez vs Pedro Campa:
Following his sensational performance, Lopez was full of praise for the legendary Mike Tyson. Here's what he said in an interview with Fight Hub TV:
"He said, 'It ain't over til we say it's over.' That's all I needed, that amped me up... He's an amazing dude and he was like, 'All grace to Allah and to God man.' That's really what it comes down to. I thank him for that phone call. Thank you champ. Thank you for the motivation. Thank you for speaking that out into existence. We are the only one's that stop this."
Watch the full interview:
Teofimo Lopez on his knockout win against Pedro Campa
Teofimo Lopez continued by explaining how he wasn't looking for the knockout against Campa. Instead, he was working on a variety of skills and managed to hurt his opponent naturally. He added:
"No, I wasn't focused on the knockout. Just focus on timing, working on different things. Wanting to show you guys my catch and shoot things that I've been working on. My defence was great today, you know. I still got to work on a couple things overall. However, you know God does the work for me. You know what I'm saying? Seventh round knockout. Two five, twenty five, two plus five, seven."
Lopez suffered a shock defeat to George Kambosos Jr. back in November 2021. Despite being the strong favourite, 'The Takeover' was outworked and lost a 12-round split decision. The American was relieved of the IBF, WBO and WBA Lightweight Championships that he won off Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020.
Watch the fight highlights of Lopez vs Kambosos Jr:
However, after last night's performance, Lopez is rejuventated in his new weight class. Ryan Garcia has also recently moved up to 140 lbs and is a potential lucrative fight for Lopez in the future.
Teofimo Lopez believes Oscar De La Hoya will out price themselves for a fight with Ryan Garcia
“These guys never won a world title and want $10M. Take the minimum like I did vs. Lomachenko”
WATCH: bit.ly/3bKjKXn https://t.co/CfO3Enz36n