By Allan Fox: Demetrius Andrade thinks Teofimo Lopez needs a rematch to attempt to avenge his loss to George Kambosos Jr. from last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The WBO 154-lb champion Demetrius feels that former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs) failed to make the adjustments he needed to win the fight against the challenger Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs), which cost him the fight.
Andrade wanted to see Teofimo make these adjustments:
- Fight in close
- Throw overhand rights
- Jab to the body
- Not rushing shots
- Defend better
In addition to Teofimo not making the needed adjustments, Demetrius says he may have been negatively impacted by the 13 months of inactivity and the COVID-19 that he came down not long ago.
It appeared that Teofimo came with one set game plan designed by his father, Lopez Sr., and when that plan failed to work, there was no Plan-B. Lopez Sr. wanted Teofimo to fight harder and get in close to throw his shots, but he couldn’t do that.
Kambosos’ movement gave Teofimo problems, and he was getting tied up a lot when he would get close.
Teofimo affected by inactivity/Covid
“I didn’t know too much about Kambosos until now, and I did a little bit of research, and I knew he was a tough guy going in,” said Demetrius Andrade to Seconds Out. “Lopez is a warrior, so he knows how to make things happen.
“Maybe the 14 months he was off, and he got sick, Corona or something like that may have taken effect,” Andrade continued. “Ring rust is real, and it shows, but a rematch is something that definitely should be happening.
“I thought it was time for him to make adjustments, and he didn’t make adjustments,” Demetrius said of Teofimo. “But he’s going to go back and look at the tape and see what he needs to be working on in the gym for those types of shots.
“That shot was there often, and Kambosos did it when he can. Lopez needs to go back to the drawing board. He’s going to be a champion once again, for sure. I can’t wait to see what’s in store.
More overhand rights needed
“I thought he [Teofimo] should have been throwing the overhand right himself and a lot of jabs to the body, getting a little closer to him so he can be a counter puncher instead of rushing the shots.
“And I thought he was rushing the shots a little bit more. It could have came with timing. If he would have got close, and worked a little bit of defense and seen what was going on, and was able to counter.
“As I was saying, the overhand right was there for Lopez to throw at Kambosos Jr,” Andrade said.
Even if Teofimo hadn’t been inactive and sick with COVID, he would have struggled with the movement and frequent clinching that Kambosos was using.
Teofimo let Kambosos get away with a massive amount of holding. You can blame that on Teofimo’s trainer because he should have caught this during the fight and made the proper adjustments.
Lopez should take the rematch
“I think the rematch is appropriate. I think it would be a good thing for boxing and give us a chance to see what Lopez and Kambosos are made out of,” said Demetrius.
“For Devin Haney to get the opportunity, it would be great for him as well. That’s my guy. I want to see him make it and get to the top as well, but this fight, I would like to see it again.
“I think Lopez would go back and make the adjustments that he needs to do, and I think he would get the win,” said Demetrius when asked how he would see a rematch between Teofimo and Kambosos going.
Teofimo’s dad has already said that they’re not going to take the rematch because they plan to go up to 140.
