Steve Claggett, a boxer from Calgary, Alberta, has the potential to pull off a major upset and stir things up in the boxing world. With a record of 38 wins, 7 defeats, and 2 draws, the 34-year-old journeyman will face Teofimo Lopez, the highly publicized WBO Super-lightweight champion. Why Lopez choose Claggett over top super-lightweight contenders like Richardson Hitchins, Arnold Barboza, and Subriel Matias is still a mystery. Lopez’s most recent bout, a championship defense, was met with controversy when his opponent Jamaine Ortiz referred to a “117-111” scorecard decision as “ridiculous” and the crowd jeered the UD victory.
Lopez was unable to make an impression that evening as he found it difficult to connect with an elusive opponent like Ortiz and provide boxing fans with a thrilling bout. Lopez may have been drawn to Claggett because of his reputation as a pressure fighter and his preference for close quarters combat. Perhaps he sees Claggett as a warm-up opponent before taking on the best in the light-welterweight class.
Even though “The Takeover” doesn’t have a particularly great boxing background, he is the current WBO world super lightweight champion. Although Lopez appears to be winning the bout easily on paper, a defeat would seriously harm his image. For Claggett, however, there are only benefits. Whether he wins or loses, this might be the largest salary of his career. In light of that, how much will each fighter’s battle purse be?
Teofimo Lopez and Steve Claggett to get a cut of the PPV income?
Teofimo Lopez is expected to take home a guaranteed payout of $1.5 million, per Sporty Salaries. His revenues might reach $5 million thanks to his 70% share of the PPV profits. There is a catch, though: on fight night, PPV sales must surpass 500K. The fight purse for his next fight, which is against a journeyman, is substantially less than it is for many of his previous battles.
In the meanwhile, Canadian journeyman Claggett will receive a fixed $500k salary, and he will make $1.5m from the fight thanks to his 30% PPV share. It seemed obvious that Lopez would be entitled to a larger share of the PPV earnings since she was a more well-known star.
The main event of the Top Rank-promoted pay-per-view card will happen at Miami Beach, Florida’s James L. Knight Center.
Teofimo Lopez’s highest boxing payouts
The WBO International Super Lightweight championship match between Lopez and Sandor Martin in 2022 was the greatest money bout of Lopez’s career. The Takeover’s bout purse, according to SportsPayouts, was $3 million. In a 2021 championship defense match in New York versus Australian George Kambosos Jr., he earned his second-largest payday. Even though “The Takeover” only lost once in his boxing career, it wasn’t a terrible loss for him because he won $2.1 million for the match.
In the super lightweight class, he faced Pedro Campa of Mexico and won his third-largest payout. The NABF and WBO International Super Lightweight titles were up for grabs, as both competitors traded punches in the ring. Lopez received a $1.7 million payment in his bank account following the victory.
Teofimo defeated Josh Taylor by majority decision to win the WBO super-lightweight championship at their fight at Madison Square Garden Theater last year. He received a $1.5 million guaranteed salary for his labors.
In addition, he performed admirably in his highly anticipated bout against Vasyl Lomachenko in October 2020 to win the WBA and WBO lightweight belts and remove the IBF title from his opponent. He received a check for $1.5 million for the bout.
