Tim Bradley Issues Stern Warning: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Must Avoid Teofimo Lopez Due To Perceived Mismatch

Tim Bradley says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis needs to stay far away from Teofimo Lopez because he feels he’s a bad match-up for him. Bradley recommends that Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, take him in another direction rather than go through with the fight.

(Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom)

Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) hasn’t said whether he’ll fight Lopez next. He wants to unify the 147-lb division, and was hoping that Hearn could set up a unification fight with one of the other two champions.

Bradley: Ennis Must Avoid Teofimo

“Boots Ennis better leave Teofimo Lopez alone. I’m telling y’all, leave that boy alone,” said Tim Bradley on social media. “He’s a real one. I know all that racist rant and stuff like that. That’s one thing. I’m talking about boxing. That’s what I’m talking about.”

Teofimo doesn’t throw enough punches when he’s boxing his opponents, and that would be his downfall against Ennis. You’ve got to have offense against him, because it’s not going to work fighting like Lopez did against Arnold Barboza Jr. on the May 2nd card at Times Square in New York.

“I’m here to tell y’all, he’s got what it takes to beat Boots Ennis,” said Bradley. “The two most athletic fighters in the game. If they were to go head to head, ooh wee. Yeah, Boots has got all the attributes. He has the height and the long arms, but you know who has the better timing? That’s Teofimo Lopez.”

What Bradley is leaving out in his glazing of Teofimo is that he breaks under pressure. We saw that in his fights against George Kambosos Jr, Jamaine Ortiz, Sandor Martin, Vasily Lomachenko, and Masayoshi Nakatani. Teo beat Arnold Barboza Jr. because that guy isn’t a pressure fighter.

“You know who’s athletic? Who was the last athletic guy that Boots fought? Karen [Chulhadzhian] was the last one? huh. Don’t think Boots is going to be able to out-punch him. Don’t think that because we know he’s not,” said Bradley. “You go back and watch that Claggett fight. That boy Teofimo Lopez has got some lungs, too.”

Lopez threw a lot of punches in the Claggett fight because he didn’t have to worry about anything powerful coming back. Claggett is a come-forward, slow journeyman who can’t punch. Boots is the opposite, and he would have one-punch power, size, and the pressure to wear down Lopez.

“When he’s full-fledged and hungry, he’s got lungs too. He threw almost 1000 [Note: Teofimo threw 946 punches and Claggett threw 820],” said Tim about Teofimo. “Boots, I see you. You’re numbers are quite high. You are around 500, 600, and close to 700 sometimes. Guess who can match your output? Teofimo Lopez.”

Bradley is getting carried away with his praise of Lopez. Teo can’t throw 1000 punches against Ennis, because he would have to worry about his’ return fire. Against Clagged, he didn’t have to be concerned. So, he was able to stand in front of him and match him and just throw.

Turki and Ennis Call the Shots

“Boots, all those little lapses you been having. You’re not going to be able to have those lapses with Teofimo Lopez. Oh no. That dude is on his game. When his mind is right, it’s hard to beat that dude,” said Bradley. “Explosive, smart, he’s got a high IQ as well as you do.”

We saw what Teofimo is all about in his last fight against Arnold Barboza Jr. He’s a pot-shot fighter, who emulates Shakur Stevenson. That’s his fighting style against opponents who are a threat to beating him. He’ll fight the same way against Ennis, but it won’t be enough.

“Eddie Hearn, I’m telling you. If you don’t want your guy [Ennis] to get beat, stay away from Teofimo Lopez. You want to give him a couple of more fights before you fight that guy. I know Teo is moving up to 147. I get that. Y’all are going to say the power. I get all of that,” said Bradley.

It’s not even up to Hearn whether the Teofimo fight happens next for Boots. It’s going to be Turki Alalshikh and call Ennis’ call. If they both agree to take the fight, it’ll happen. Turki has already said he’s started negotiations. Now, it’s up to Ennis if he wants to fight Lopez.