Teofimo Lopez missed weight at the check weigh-in for tomorrow’s fight with Josh Taylor at the theatre at Madison Square Garden, but though Taylor made weight comfortably, the champion had weight-related concerns of his own.
He tipped the scales at 139.8lbs and was said to have already had a drink and breakfast, but was also said to have wanted to weigh-in earlier on Friday, and missed out on doing so largely because of his lawyer’s lack of attention to detail.
That he made weight so convincingly – and for the occasion of his first fight under Joe McNally – ultimately comes as little surprise. He has been bullish all week – like a fighter convinced about his condition and therefore chances of victory. ProBox TV understands that his chief sparring partner, Adrian Sosa, even suffered to the extent that he was unintentionally stopped in the second round of their first spa, which despite Taylor’s financial investment in him meant that they were unable to resume sparring until a week had passed.
Lopez left Madison Square Garden to make sure he made 140lbs at the official weigh-in, and after he returned he did so. To his credit, he didn’t look like someone who had struggled to make the 10st limit. The kilt-wearing Taylor, regardless, couldn’t resist taunting him and calling him a “fat bastard” when they were stood either side of the scales.
Among those present in New York to support Taylor is Leigh Wood, who trained alongside him under Ben Davison and who on Thursday evening won the BWAA’s fight of the year for his dramatic late stoppage of Michael Conlan. Wood described Taylor as an “instinctive” fighter, and contrasted him from himself, who under Davison thrives as someone who studies his opponents for weeks on end.
Also at Friday’s weigh-in was Bill Haney, the father, trainer and manager of Devin, the undisputed lightweight champion. He was wearing a WBO-branded jacket – it is Taylor’s WBO super lightweight title Taylor and Lopez are fighting for on Saturday – and revealed that he was not only there to observe both fighters given his son is a potential next opponent, but that he also had little desire to dismiss the suggestion that it is promoters Top Rank his son will re-sign with.
