Rarely do you hear fighters talking down their own record before their return to the ring, but Teofimo Lopez has emerged from his short-lived reign as unified lightweight champion a different animal.

It was one of the most extraordinary upsets in living memory when the American took Vasyl Lomachenko’s belts – and many felt the natural order was restored when he subsequently lost them in his first defence to George Kambosos Jr.

Yet when asked how he would bounce back from his first loss, Lopez responded: “My first loss? It was actually my 21st loss if we count the amateurs as well. So, I always bounce back. I’m always that type of person. The first step to success is failure.”

Lopez maintains that even in his sensational victory over the Ukrainian, we did not see his full potential. He has now moved to junior welterweight, though, and debuts in that weight class against Pedro Campa.

Campa has also lost just one fight in his professional career, knocked out by Carlos Jimenez in 2017. Beating him would not, as Lopez hopes, prove “why Teofimo is the greatest of all time”, but it would be a first step back on track.

“A true champion never gets distracted,” he said. “At the end of the day, this ain’t my first rodeo. 21 years in the game. Blood, sweat and tears. Do your research. See it. Five-time world champion. We’re just here to dominate and do what we always do: entertain.”

When Lopez lost to Kambosos Jr, that was hardly a ringing endorsement of the Australian, who himself was immediately beaten by Devin Haney. Now that Lopez has gone up a division, it makes for an intriguing spectacle – he has been fighting at lightweight since he was a teenager and it’s not yet clear if this will be a natural transition. Campa has the movement, he is aggressive and has a solid chin, but the odds are considerably against him – and with good reason.

If you were to wave a magic wand and make the Kambosos fight disappear, Lopez was being talked about in the same conversations as future opponents Haney, Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis. “Tank” and Garcia – and even Haney – seemed like a stretch too far, but he now has the opportunity to start afresh at 140lbs.

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