Jorge Rubio, Teofimo Lopez's assistant coach, is confident his fighter will arrive in the best physical condition of his career for his fight against mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. - which has a tentative date of August 14, but may get pushed to September.

"We did an intense training camp. Teofimo has improved his skills and the fans will be able to see that now he has become a better fighter," Rubio said.

"I don't want to say that Kambosos Jr doesn't have a chance. I'm sure he will come to this fight to do his best. We will do the same, we will be there ready to give a great fight. I believe that Teofimo has all the tools to beat him, and the faster he does it, the better.

“I think that the best thing about Teofimo is discipline. We are talking about a 23-year-old young man, but with the maturity of a more experienced man. His skills are complemented by his maturity and that makes him a dangerous enemy for all fighters at 135 and 140 pounds."

The fight was initially scheduled to take place last month, but the event was called off after Lopez - who holds the IBF, WBC Franchise, WBO, WBA titles - became ill with COVID-19.

Lopez has not fought since October 2020, when he unanimously defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko in their lightweight unification. The unbeaten boxer has only fought 14 rounds since he knocked out Richard Commey in December 2019, in the second round.

“I believe that the global health situation has affected us all in boxing, and Teofimo is no exception. In fact, Kambosos Jr is in exactly the same situation as Teofimo, they both fought at MSG in December 2019 and their last fights were in October 2020 that puts things the same level in terms of inactivity," said Rubio

If Teofimo wins, Rubio would like to see him face WBC champion Devin Haney.

“I think a fight against Haney would be the most logical thing for now. They are both champions, they are undefeated and I think it would be a great fight that thousands of fans would like to see," Rubio said.

There are lot of fans who already want to see Lopez test his skills at the higher weights. 

“We can't forget that Teofimo is at his best today at 135. Later on he might be able to do a fight against [Josh] Taylor, that fight would break all PPV records. Teofimo still has a long way to go before he thinks about 147 pounds or beyond,” Rubio said.