By Aragon Garcia: Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez told Devin Haney to “shut up” on social media after reading one of his latest rants on Twitter last Saturday.
IBF 135-lb champion Teofimo (15-0, 12 KOs) told former WBC belt-holder Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) to pipe down and called him “annoying” after he Tweeted about how he would bet “7-figures” on himself against anyone in the lightweight division. Teofimo is tired of listening to Haney complaining on social media about his title woes.
Devin Haney wants the WBC to reinstate him as champion
Haney, 21, has been looking bad lately after he was stripped of his title by the World Boxing Council. He’s now trying to get WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to give him back his belt, which he got outside of the ring.
Haney should just wait his turn to try and win back his WBC title, but he doesn’t want to do that. He’s asking for the WBC to give him back his belt despite them already having ordered the Campbell vs. Fortuna match for the strap. If Haney has the talent to win back his WBC belt, then it’s all good. It doesn’t matter if he has to wait for the smoke to clear from the Campbell-Fortuna fight.
He’ll get his belt back if he’s good enough. If not, then Haney will need to go in another direction with his career. Maybe move down in weight to 130 or move up to 140. His lack of punching power makes a move up to 140 as a potentially poor one.
Haney ready to bet on himself
When you “so called” don’t fight nobody it’s one thing if nobody wants to fight you its another thing. I will bet 7 figures on myself against anybody in my division! #Boogeyman
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) April 12, 2020
Teofimo tells Haney to shut up
“Shut the f*** up kid.. damn you annoying!!!” said Teofimo at @TeofimoLopez in response to Haney’s Tweet.
The comment from Teofimo to Haney is him letting the former WBC belt holder know that he’s tired of his constant complaining about his lost title. Haney is constantly calling out guys on social media. Haney hasn’t beaten anyone talented yet during his career, but he talks like he’s been around forever. The fact is, Haney is a five-year pro, and the best name on his resume is the little known Alfredo Santiago.
Despite winning a 12 round decision last November, Haney didn’t impress against Santiago. Haney got hit a lot in that fight, and it was lucky for him that Santiago lacked the power to hurt him. Had that been a big puncher like Teofimo, Haney might have ended up on his back counting stars going around his head.
Haney’s rebuttal to Teofimo
“@TeofimoLopez, you ducked me in the WBC tournament, and you damn sure don’t want to fight me if you beat Loma? Stop the bull-s***,” said Haney on Twitter to Teofimo.
The WBC stripped Haney of his 135-pound strap after he hurt his shoulder last November against Alfredo Santiago. A fight between top contenders Luke Campbell and Javier Fortuna has already been ordered by the WBC to fight for the vacant 135-lb belt.
Haney is now the WBC ‘Champion in Recess’, and he can fight the winner of the Campbell vs. Fortuna fight. It looks sad on Haney’s part for him to be trying to get reinstated by the WBC rather than just waiting his turn to take on the winner of the Campbell-Fortuna fight.
Some boxing fans think Haney was ‘handed the belt’ by the WBC in the first place with it being given to him outside of the ring after the previous champion Vasily Lomachenko received an upgrade to ‘Franchise champion.’ Haney didn’t have to fight anyone for the WBC belt. He received the belt outside of the ring.
Teofimo is currently at 15-0, 12 KOs) and holds the IBF lightweight title that he recently won in a 2nd round knockout of Richard Commey. The victory for the 22-year-old Teofimo now puts him in a position to fight WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 or 2021. Those two fighters are waiting until boxing restarts after or during the pandemic.
