The boxing schedule for the upcoming weekend features several high-profile fights, with Ryan Garcia, Canelo Alvarez, and Naoya Inoue as notable fighters. While on paper, all these fighters are the favorites to win, one can never truly know, what may happen inside the boxing ring. Recently, Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo made a prediction regarding which massive favorite fighter may end up losing their bout, and this is what they had to say.
In the Ariel Helwani show, Ade Oladipo made it clear that he thinks a massive upset is coming, and here is what he said;
“One favorite’s losing this weekend… I’m convinced.” Oladipo continued “The boxing Gods have a funny way of messing up plans when we think plans already sorted for the future. And there are a lot of favorites fighting this weekend that seems to have plans for other fights. Obviously, Canelo, Crawford…”
Oladipo gets interrupted by Helwani as he asks if he’s only talking about the Friday night events, to which Oladipo responds “The whole weekend, not just Friday, but I think the loser comes on Friday. I think one of Ryan, Devin, or Teofimo, is now walking away with a W.”
IT’S FIGHT WEEK! 🥊🔥#GarciaRomero | May 2 | Times Square, NYC
— Boxing Orbit (@boxing_orbit) April 28, 2025
Ryan Garcia 🆚 Rolly Romero
Devin Haney 🆚 Jose Ramirez
Teofimo Lopez 🆚 Arnold Barboza Jr.#CaneloScull | May 3 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Canelo Alvarez 🆚 William Scull
Bruno Surace 🆚 Jaime Mungaia 2
Martin… pic.twitter.com/O5DH1hG7CM
When Helwani asks Oladipo about who he’s leaning towards, he smilingly declines to answer the question saying “I can’t give away everything.” But he eventually reveals that it’s Teofimo Lopez that could lose the fight as the favorite.
Teofimo Lopez is the favorite to win the fight against Arnold Barboza Jr. The bout will take place on Friday and Lopez is the -275 favorite to win the fight against the +190 underdog Barboza. However, Oladipo believes that Lopez could lose the fight and here’s why;
“When Tio’s hot, the nickname is perfect from the takeover. When he’s hot he’s a 10-10. He’s a pound for pound star. When he’s cold, he’s cold. And I think we’ve seen that in some of the performances over the last few years. Barboza right now is hot. I think Barboza’s last two fights, the Latino night he beat Jose Ramirez… Then he came to Manchester and beat Jack Catterall. Jack Catterall was the big favorite to win that fight. He’s going into this fight, being slightly disrespected, and I almost feel like he’s going into the fight hot, and Tio not so.”
Lopez is the favorite to win the fight, but we need to keep in mind that Barboza and fought in 32 bouts and won every single one of them, remaining undefeated. So this alone, makes it a lot less lopsided than the other fights. Lopez’s recent inconsistencies, lack of versatility in his game plan, and making adjustments, is just something that has constantly been there throughout his fighting career, and that just raises concerns going against a guy who allows little to no mistakes.
Also Read: “Beat Him Two Times” – Tyson Fury Demands Oleksandr Usyk Trilogy Matchup
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