Teofimo Lopez

Lopez married Cynthia Lopez in April 2019. They met on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York City to Las Vegas, where Cynthia worked as a flight attendant. They went through the divorce process in 2025.

Lopez tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2021, postponing his fight with George Kambosos Jr. He also suffered pneumomediastinum after the Kambosos bout, a condition involving air in the mediastinum.

Lopez was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Honduran immigrant parents. His family later moved to Florida, where his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., began training him at age six.

Lopez won the 2015 National Golden Gloves tournament and the U.S. Olympic Trials. He represented Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, reaching the lightweight competition before losing to Sofiane Oumiha, who went on to win the silver medal.

Lopez signed with Top Rank in October 2016 and made his professional debut in November of that year on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao versus Jessie Vargas. He built a 10-0 record before defeating Mason Menard by a first-round knockout in December 2018.

He followed that performance with knockout victories over Diego Magdaleno and Edis Tatli. In July 2019, he defeated Masayoshi Nakatani by unanimous decision in an IBF lightweight title eliminator, going 12 rounds for the first time as a professional.

On December 14, 2019, Lopez won the IBF lightweight championship by stopping Richard Commey with a second-round technical knockout at Madison Square Garden.

Lopez faced unified WBA, WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on October 17, 2020, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Lopez won by unanimous decision, retaining his IBF belt and adding Lomachenko's WBA, WBO, and The Ring titles.

The fight was held without a live audience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lopez controlled much of the early action with his jab and body punching, then finished strongly in the final round. His performance earned him the 2020 Fighter of the Year award from The Ring, Sports Illustrated, BoxingScene, and World Boxing News, as well as the Sugar Ray Robinson Award.

Lopez's first defense of the unified lightweight titles came against George Kambosos Jr. in November 2021. Kambosos knocked Lopez down in the first round, and Lopez later returned the knockdown in the tenth, but Kambosos won by split decision and took the lightweight titles.

After the loss to Kambosos, Lopez moved to the 140-pound light welterweight division. He defeated Pedro Campa by seventh-round technical knockout in August 2022 and then earned a split-decision victory over Sandor Martín in December 2022.

On June 10, 2023, Lopez challenged undefeated WBO and The Ring light welterweight champion Josh Taylor at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Lopez won by unanimous decision, becoming a two-division world champion and claiming the WBO and The Ring titles. He announced his retirement from boxing two days later, but returned to competition in 2024.

Lopez defended his light welterweight titles against Jamaine Ortiz by unanimous decision in February 2024 and against Steve Claggett by unanimous decision in June 2024. He then retained the belts against Arnold Barboza Jr. by unanimous decision on May 2, 2025, in a fight held in Times Square.

Lopez later faced Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden on January 31, 2026, losing the WBO and The Ring light welterweight titles by unanimous decision. He moved to welterweight for a bout with Rolando Romero on August 22, 2026, winning by majority decision and taking the WBA welterweight title.