By Jake Donovan

By his own admission, Teofimo Lopez isn’t quite ready for The Takeover to begin.

The unbeaten lightweight contender refuses to take a victory lap even on the heels of his most significant win to date. Lopez endured a stiff test from Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani (18-1, 12KOs) in a competitive but clear 12-round decision win in their July 19 ESPN+ streamed title eliminator in Oxon Hill, Md.

Critics and divisional rivals—including unified lightweight titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko, who has been previously dismissive of the brash 22-year old’s vocal challenges of a head-on collision—sought to claim the affair as one where his alleged limitations were exposed.

Calmer heads saw the fight as a valuable learning lesson for BoxingScene.com’s 2018 Prospect of the Year who’s still in the growth period of his young career. That same viewpoint is shared by the winner and still-unbeaten contender.

“It’s a learning process,” Lopez (14-0, 11KOs) admitted during a recent interview with Max Kellerman on ESPN2’s Max on Boxing. “Natakani came to fight. When you have to those type of fights—IBF (eliminator), basically winner gets mandatory to fight for a world title—you’re going to have those nights.

“Was I happy with my performance? Absolutely not, as I clearly have shown. I knew I won the fight, I wasn’t worried about. Dealing with personal things, family issues. You look at those things. I’ve always been happy, but these last two fights it’s taken its toll along with making weight.”

Among the issues revealed—and previously touched on prior to the fight—were internal rifts within Lopez’s family. The rising contender recently wed, with his adoring bride not exactly embraced with open arms by all family members.

As he is trained by his father Teofimo Sr. and his mother an integral part of his day-to-day operations, comes the concern of entering bigger fights in the immediate future with such ongoing matters.

Waiting in the wings is a mandatory title shot versus reigning lightweight titlist Richard Commey, who has been chomping at the bit for a fight with Lopez and the winner of Lomachenko’s three-belt title fight versus England’s Luke Campbell on Aug. 31 in London. For now, it appears that at least part of those plans might have to be revised.

“If we don’t sort these things out, there won’t be a fight between myself and Richard Commey,” revealed Lopez. “I have to regroup within myself. I can beat all these guys, impressively and without any flaws in the ring. But if Teofimo is not happy when he’s in the ring, then those are the problems that—the only person that can beat me, is me.

“Of course it’s only going to get harder. The competition gets tougher. I will fight again, but not until everything is organized again and back at ground one.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox