By Daniel Gonzalez

New York – A perfectly timed and placed overhand right hand not only made Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) the IBF Lightweight Champion, it catapulted him into a future matchup with WBO/WBA champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. What was originally predicted to be a 50/50 matchup with Ghana native, Richard Commey (29-3, 26 KOs), ended up being a one-sided affair, as Lopez electrified the crowd at Madison Square Garden with a 2nd round knockout.

The 22 year old Lopez and Commey threw simultaneous right hands in second, but before doing so, Lopez moved his head off line and managed to rock the chin of Commey flooring the IBF champion. Commey was able to beat the count and attempted to fend off the Lopez attack after the knockdown, but he was unable to fully recover. Lopez ,,,looking to finish the show then trapped Commey on the ropes and unloaded a series of left hooks that caused referee David Fields to stop the fight before Commey had to take any unnecessary punishment.

The 32 year old Commey, who is trained by Andre Rozier and fights out of Brooklyn, had never been knocked out in his career. Although he had 2 losses on his record to Robert Easter, Jr. and Denis Shafakov coming into the fight, both of those match ups were very close and easily could have went Commey’s way. On paper, Commey appeared to be one of the toughest fighters that Lopez has faced up until this point of his young career, but Lopez made it look easy.

Immediately after the fight, Lopez put on 2020 Heisman Trophy Winner, Joe Burrow’s LSU jersey, and did his patented back flip to further excite the Madison Square Garden crowd. With the win, Lopez became boxings first Honduran world champion, and fulfilled his trainer/father’s prophecy of becoming a world champion by his 15th professional fight.

The new IBF Champion, who is often times brash in his post fight interviews was actually teary eyed and humble in victory. Lopez showed great respect for his opponent and demonstrated great sportsmanship. “I’m at a loss for words right now,” Lopez asid ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna, “This is a dream come true. [Commey] is a bad man. His shot could’ve done the same to me if he hit me with that shot.” Lopez who seemed overwhelmed with emotion, expressed to the New York crowd and to all those watching on ESPN, that he and other fighters are more than just athletes and have a human side to them as well.

Lopez’s message to Lomachenko could not have been clearer. “You all know who I wanna fight next,” Lopez said, referring to Loma . “2020 is gonna be a big year. ‘The Takeover’ has arrived, and you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Lopez, who was the 2018 ESPN prospect of the year, has now come into his own and is one fight away from superstardom. The question remains as to whether Lopez is ready for Lomachenko. The Ukrainian champion is usually the most athletic boxer in the ring, but that edge may not be his against Lopez. Lopez is not only a tremendous athlete, but he will also be the bigger man in the ring against Loma. According to Loma, who was sitting ringside scouting the fight, he is ready to give Lopez a shot. He stated in no uncertain terms, “Welcome to my club, see you in April.”

Presumably referring to a unification bout with the newly crowned IBF Champion.

There is no doubt that the Loma/Lopez clash will be one of the most exciting matchups in 2020.

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com

Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/ Top Rank