Teofimo Lopez has struck up a great relationship with Canelo Alvarez. Recently, a series of clips of the two training together, polishing their boxing techniques with repetitive drills went viral on the internet. Canelo Alvarez has a big fight ahead as he will be going up against 27-year-old Edgar Berlanga on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With such a high-profile fight ahead, having Teofimo Lopez—the current WBO super lightweight champion who has defeated elite boxers like Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor— as a sparring partner seems like a strategic choice.

Furthermore, Teofimo Lopez was also spotted doing mitts work with Canelo’s long-time legendary trainer, Eddy Reynoso. Notably, in 2022, there was considerable interest from the New York-born boxer to add Reynoso to his coaching team alongside his father Teofimo Sr. However, the talks didn’t result in anything substantial. Coming back to the present, Teofimo Lopez training with Canelo Alvarez and Eddy Reynoso quite frequently over the past couple of months has sparked speculations about whether he has joined Canelo’s team.

On that note, boxing reporter and host of Inside Boxing Live, Dan Canobbio asked Canelo Alvarez the burning question in his recent interview—“Is Teofimo part of the [your] team now?” The question appeared while Canelo was asked to pick four names as part of his ultimate boxing team. Nevertheless, in response to the question about Teofimo, Canelo Alvarez bluntly answered, “No. Not yet.” 

Regardless, Alvarez picked Lopez to be part of his “ultimate boxing team”, from the 140 lbs division alongside Ryan Garcia. However, it does raise the question: Why hasn’t Lopez officially joined Canelo’s camp? Is it because he doesn’t want to sideline his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr, who has coached him since the age of six?

“He [Reynoso] is [a great coach]. I love the connection. I’ve talked to Canelo a few times. Yeah, we’ll see. My father, he’s always going to be my main coach, my #1, my guy. I’m always going to hold it down for him,” Teofimo Lopez revealed in an earlier interview. Whatever the reason for not joining the Canelo Alvarez camp officially, even sporadic sparring sessions with him and his team will help Lopez shore up the shortcomings in his game.

Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez seems to have fostered such a great relationship with Lopez that he is even willing to turn down a lucrative fight offer with a pound-for-pound king on the latter’s behalf.

Fight Teofimo Lopez, not me, says Canelo Alvarez

In a media interview, ahead of the Edgar Berlanga fight, Canelo stated that he is in no rush to fight the two-division undisputed champion Terence Crawford. According to reports, HE Turki Alalshikh approached Canelo with a proposal for a Crawford fight, but Canelo refused, stating that if the bout were to happen, it would be on his own terms, not dictated by others.

More interestingly, Canelo suggested that Crawford should fight Teofimo Lopez first before any potential match-up with him. “Crawford needs to fight Teofimo [Lopez] first and then we’ll see,” Alvarez stated while Teofimo and his father were standing beside him.

Lopez has been quite persistent in his desire to fight Terence Crawford. Safe to say, adding Crawford’s name to the win column would boost The Takeover’s profile and enhance his legacy. On the other hand, Bud Crawford is looking for a big-money fight with Canelo as the way out of the boxing business.

Nevertheless, should Teofimo Lopez change his training camp, and switch to Eddy Reynoso? Moreover, do you see Terence Crawford fighting Teofimo Lopez soon? Let us know in the comment section below.