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Teofimo Lopez vs Arnold Barboza Jr: Who has the edge heading into their fight?
Teofimo Lopez slapping Arnold Barboza Jr. during a press conference last month was like throwing gasoline onto an already flammable situation.
Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) will defend his WBO and The Ring super lightweight world titles against interim titleholder Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) at The Ring's Fatal Fury: Times Square on Friday night in New York City, and live and exclusively on DAZN PPV .
Lopez is coming off a unanimous decision over Steve Claggett in June, while Barboza scored his biggest win to date in February when he edged Jack Catterall via split-decision.
With the urgency riding high, DAZN News analyzes who has the edge across three key categories in Lopez vs. Barboza.
DAZNBoxing styles
We are nearing the five-year anniversary of Lopez shocking Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision to become the then-unified lightweight world champion and the Brooklyn, New York native did it with sweet science skills.
That result put the boxing world on its back as Lopez let it be known that he can box with the very best if need be and win fights with his skills as much as his power.
Barboza has solid boxing skills, with the ability to flat out fight if necessary, but the edge in sweet science deftness points to Lopez.
Edge: Lopez
Power
It has been a while since Lopez has generated a knockout victory — stopping Pedro Campo in seven rounds back in August 2022 to be exact.
But one would be ill-advised to doubt the pop in the 27-year-old’s punch because Lopez certainly has it to uncork.
While Barboza’s output is more scrappy and stinging, Lopez’s production carries more power.
Edge: Lopez
Mental Warfare
A faceoff between the two ended with Barboza knocking the hat off Lopez’ head and “The Takeover” responding by smacking Barboza across the face.
During Monday night's Grand Arrivals event, Lopez opted to skip the faceoff, altogether.
Do these sequences mean Lopez is living rent free in Barboza’s head or vice versa?
That could be up for debate.
However, what is a bit more firm is Lopez has had spirited, testy buildups of fights before — with Vasiliy Lomachenko, George Kambosos Jr., and Josh Taylor coming to mind. And he is 2-1 in those situations.
The buildup between Barboza and Catterall grew tense toward their February fight, too, before Barboza as the underdog held on to capture the vacant interim WBO super lightweight title.
Lopez’s experience, though, has been more in the pressure cooker and aside from that unforeseen upset to Kambosos, he tends to deliver.
Barboza being 33 years old makes this a bit more urgent for him to secure the win, making this category closer. But the edge here, with the bigger fight experience on his side, goes to Lopez.
Perhaps that explains why he is so loose heading into this bout.
Edge: Lopez
Who has the edge in Lopez vs Barboza?
Lopez, behind his bigger fight experience, owns the 3-0 edge.
Whether Barboza, with his urgency to become a world champion at 33, can disrupt and will his win into existence remains to be seen.
Until then, Lopez has the edge.
