Boxer Teofimo Lopez Bolted NYC For Arkansas, I'm At-Risk, I Have Asthma

Teofimo Lopez was born and bred in NYC ... but the boxing star bolted from the Big Apple before coronavirus decimated the city. So, how'd he know it was a good idea to get the hell outta Dodge?

Well, disaster movies ... where else??

"You ever seen those movies like '2012'? Obviously the major cities are always gonna get hit first."

He's right ... in films like "Deep Impact," "Armageddon," "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" ... New York City seems to always get obliterated.

So, with that movie knowledge in hand, the 22-year-old undefeated IBF lightweight champ booked it outta NYC.

"Me and my wife, we took our 3 dogs with us. We pretty much just left. Man, honestly, we were lucky. We left 2 or 3 days before it got hit hard," Teofimo tells us.

"And, ya know we had to, due to my health condition. I have asthma. Not a lot of people know about it. I've been diagnosed with is since I was 6 years old. I know coronavirus, COVID-19, it hits the lungs. I just can't risk it."

FYI, NYC is the U.S. epicenter for coronavirus ... with over 122K identified cases, and thousands of deaths.

Lopez, his wife, and their pups ended up in Arkansas -- near the missus' family -- but just 'cause he's away from his gym, doesn't mean he's slackin' when it comes to training.

"I'm still working out. I been 2 weeks already just doing the treadmill, just running, and pretty much pumping weights. Hitting the bag."

In fact, he says he might look a little more swole when the world emerges from the pandemic.

"I'm getting big!"

Lopez has a reason to train ... he was supposed to fight Vasyl Lomachenko -- #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world -- on May 30th at Madison Square Garden ... in what would've been a HUUUGE fight.

That's obviously off for now ... but Teofimo plans on beating up Hi-Tech later this year.

In the meantime, he had a message for Loma ... who's quarantining in Ukraine.