Teofimo Lopez will return against Arnold Barboza Jr. in Times Square in May on a card headlined by Ryan Garcia.
Teofimo Lopez last fought almost a year ago when he improved his record to 21-1 with a win over Steve Claggett.
Lopez was on an impressive run of form years ago, with wins over Richard Commey and Vasyl Lomachenko before his shocking upset loss to George Kambosos Jr.
Since then, Lopez has had multiple questionable performances, with one leaving him questioning if his time in the sport was over.
“Do I still got it?”… Teofimo Lopez asks team after split decision win
Following his upset loss to Kambosos, which came after Lopez took a punch from ‘The Mountain’, Lopez faced 34-1-1 Pedro Campa, who he stopped in the seventh round.
His next contest came against 40-2 Sandor Martin, who knocked Lopez down in a razor-close fight that many believe Martin won in 2022.
Despite coming away with a split decision victory, Lopez was left unimpressed with his performance, and was seen asking his corner if he was still able to compete at the top level.
He was seen asking his team: “Do I still got it?” something he referenced in the post-fight interview of his next fight, in which he proved doubters wrong by defeating then-unbeaten Josh Taylor.
He said after the statement win: “I’ve always been my worst critic. You guys got a little glimpse of it. But I just gotta ask you one thing and one thing only – Do I still got it?”
Teofimo Lopez’s next opponent is coming off of two impressive wins
Lopez will return to the ring on the same card as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, who are fighting on the same card in the hopes of setting up a rematch between the pair.
Garcia, who scored two first-round knockouts ahead of his win over Luke Campbell, will face Rolly Romero, whilst Haney is set to fight Jose Ramirez. Ramirez was beaten by Josh Taylor, making the Scotsman an undisputed champion, and was most recently beaten by Arnold Barboza Jr., who Lopez will face next month.
Barboza Jr., who Lopez slapped in their face-off, has been on an impressive run of form following a controversial win over Sean McComb, as he defeated Ramirez by unanimous decision before defeating Jack Catterall by split decision in his latest outing for the WBO interim super-lightweight title.