World lightweight champion says he has found a new ‘in-look’ before facing challenger George Kambosos on Saturday
Just hours after he became a father, Teófimo López, the most charismatic fighter on the planet and one of the best pound-for-pound boxers at work today, leans back in his car in Las Vegas and talks about joy and adversity, babies and tattoos, depression and love. The roof of his car is rolled open and sunshine lights up his face despite the shadows of the past.
Early on 17 November 2021, and describing the birth of baby Teófimo the night before, the world lightweight champion brims with happiness. His family history is traumatic but his son, Teófimo López V, does more than continue a tangled lineage stretching from Spain to Honduras to the US. The arrival of the youngest López gives the new father a fresh start after a year in which he contemplated ending his life. This low was a worrying echo of the acrimony, volatility and tragedy linking one López generation to another.