Bob Arum Clarifies Contract Dispute With Super Lightweight World Champion

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum recently spoke to Dan Rafael for a special Fight Freaks Unite/Big Fight Weekend podcast, where he discussed several topics including Jared Anderson and Naoya Inoue and others. Arum also spoke about a contract dispute with the WBO super lightweight world champion Teofimo Lopez.

Bob Arum Addresses Teofimo Lopez Contract Dispute

Arum Talks Honestly About Lopez Situation

Lopez has had numerous contract disputes with Top Rank since turning professional with the promotional giants in 2016. Earlier in October, the former unified lightweight champion sent a letter to Top Rank claiming that his contract was invalid, and as such he should be a free agent.

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Arum went on to clarify the situation between Top Rank and Teofimo, and began by saying: “Teofimo sometimes acts like he has a screw loose.”

He continued: “You know, I like the kid, and I get along with him personally, but I can’t figure him out and he makes no logical sense. I mean, he signed the extension with us first with a Pedraza fight, which didn’t happen, and then when we did another fight for him with Sandor Martin, he signed the same extension, referring to the fact that the Pedraza fight didn’t happen.”

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Describing dealing with Lopez, Arum said: “So, it’s there in black and white and I assume he showed the lawyer the first contract, which tied into the Pedraza fight, and not the second contract (for the Martin fight), which reaffirmed the extension. Dealing with Teofimo is like dealing with Alice in Wonderland.”

To hear the Bob Arum interview in full with Dan Rafael, click the play button below.

Resolution

Despite the difficulties regarding the contract, Top Rank chairman Arum appears confident that the dispute with“The Takeover” will be resolved: “I don’t want to disparage anybody because that doesn’t do any good, but eventually sanity will take hold and we’ll be doing a fight for Teofimo,” Arum said.