Teofimo Lopez Backs Crawford Over Ennis If 'Bud' Returns at 154

Teofimo Lopez has weighed in on a fight that doesn't exist yet, and he's siding with the guy who's supposedly retired. Asked about a hypothetical showdown between Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis, Lopez told Ring Champs he'd back Crawford — a 38-year-old who called time on his career in December after becoming a three-division undisputed champion.

That retirement came the same night Crawford dethroned Canelo Alvarez, handing the Mexican a unanimous-decision loss at 168lbs to move Canelo to 63-2-2 (39 KO). It was a legacy fight. But Lopez's argument leans on a different chapter of Crawford's résumé — the version of 'Bud' who ruled welterweight and stopped Errol Spence Jr in the ninth back in 2023. Even a couple of divisions removed from his best weight, Lopez rates him the superior operator.

The Case Against Boots

Ennis has done nothing to earn doubt on paper. He's 36-0 with 32 knockouts — an 89% finish rate — and moved up from welterweight to take the WBO and WBA super-welterweight belts off Xander Zayas via seventh-round stoppage in June. That win put him at the front of the 154lb queue, with unification bouts against IBF titlist Josh Kelly (18-1-1) and WBC champ Sebastian Fundora (24-1-1) the obvious next targets.

Lopez's issue isn't Ennis's power or his record. It's the matchup. He suggested Boots isn't physically prepared to go the full distance with Crawford and warned him against falling into the trap of a comeback tease. Translation: Lopez thinks Crawford would drag Ennis into deep water and drown him there.

The Chess Angle

The former unified lightweight champion also pointed to Crawford's ring IQ — his appetite for a tactical game of chess — as the real separator. It's a familiar knock on younger fighters facing Crawford: the athleticism keeps up, the reads don't. Lopez is essentially arguing Ennis would win rounds early and lose the fight late.

For now this is all theoretical. Crawford insists he's happy in retirement, and Ennis has a genuine path to becoming undisputed at 154 without ever needing 'Bud' to lace them up again. But the demand is loud, and Ennis has said he'd gladly take the fight. If it materializes, Lopez has already filed his prediction — and it's not the man on the 36-fight winning streak.