By: Sean Crose

“In order for him to be the man, he gotta beat me.” So claimed lightweight king Teofimo Lopez fresh off his brilliant upset win over Vasyl Lomachenko several weeks ago. Lopez, courtesy of TMZ, was referring to fellow lightweight Gervonta Davis, who recently bested popular titlist Leo Santa Cruz in stunning and violent fashion. “I can throw a mean ass uppercut as well,” Lopez said in response to the thunderous uppercut Davis knocked out Santa Cruz with, “and he’ll go out. It goes both ways. I’m a very smart fighter when it comes to it and I’m the bigger guy…I’m the kingpin of 135 pounds.”

Indeed, Lopez had words for all the big names at lightweight who claim to want to meet him in the ring. “Deep down,” he told his peers on the TMZ video, “you know I’m the king of this division.” One of the things that has made Lopez popular – aside from his impressive power and ring skill – is his flamboyant personality, the kind that is held in high regard by many fans of contemporary combat sports. “If y’all wanna fight me, you know where to find me ,” he said. “Don’t f–k with me, don’t f–k with me!”

TMZ hasn’t been the only outlet Lopez has been speaking with since besting Lomachenko, who many felt was the pound for pound best fighter on earth. “Trust me, I’ve got smiles everywhere,” he said this week on Morning Kombat, “I’m happy.  Just the fact that I can say, ‘Go f–k yourself,’ or anything like that, it’s amazing.” Lopez clearly sees himself as one of the biggest names in boxing right now, and he isn’t afraid to throw his proverbial weight around.

“Yes, we can make a big fight happen,” he told Morning Kombat, “but everybody needs to stop thinking about the business aspects as of right now.” Lopez’ words for Davis, and fellow big names Ryan Garcia and Davin Haney, were particularly on point. “Yes, it’s a business,” he said, “but Tank, you’re not ‘Money’ Mayweather and you will never be ‘Money’ Mayweather unless you fight oppositions and let your ego go.”

The 23 year old then asserted the same thing to Garcia and Haney. “The same applies for Devin Haney and the same applies for Ryan Garcia,” he said. “These guys are trying to be ‘Money’ Mayweather but you have to be ‘Pretty Boy’ first. You have to work your way up.”

Perhaps one recent comment of Lopez’ sums the man up better than all the others:

“The whole thing now,” he claimed via TMZ, “is who’s gonna be up first in line to get that ass whoopin’?!”

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