By Allan Fox: Teofimo Lopez says there’s a chance that he’ll be facing Devin Haney next rather than his IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr.
The International Boxing Federation has ordered IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO 135-lb champion Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) to face Kambosos Jr. (19-0, 10 KOs), but Devin may be the guy Teofimo faces.
According to Lopez, the travel ban may prevent him from going to Australia to face Kambosos Jr. If not, Teofimo will try and put a fight together with Haney.
However, Lopez says he would be the A-ide, and Haney would need to agree to $2 million to $3 million. He says Haney won’t get the kind of money he thinks he’s going to get.
If Teofimo plays hardball with Haney in the negotiations, he won’t get the fight. It’s not just Haney that Teofimo will miss out on; it’s all the other top lightweights.
If Teofimo starts talking nonsense about wanting to get $10 million and his opponents $2 million, that’s not going to work.
Teofimo says Lomachenko will be avoided
“I’m looking forward to two to three fights this year against big, big top fighters,” said Teofimo Lopez to Sky Sports Boxing. “We had a great game plan coming into this fight with Lomachenko.
“What I learned is a few things that we’re going to take back with us for my next fight. We’re going back to the drawing board, and we’re going to fix some things up, some hiccups we had.
“People are going to have to be careful. I told them like this. It’s better to get me now than later because, by the time you get me later, it’s going to be too late for everybody. I carry myself as the people’s champion, and it’s all about making big fights happen.
“There’s no reason for it,” said Teofimo in reacting to Lomachenko complaining about his decision loss. “I think that the guy, he knows that he lost.
“Someone like himself, who doesn’t know how to lose. He never lost, and he only had one defeat in the amateurs. He had 396 wins, and he had one bad decision to [Orlando] Salido earlier in his career.
“So I guess this is someone that doesn’t know how to lose. He’s going to say things that don’t sound legit about bribing the judges. He just needs to go back into the gym and focus on what is Lomachneko going to do.
Who is he going to fight next, and what weight division is he going to be in? I think he can definitely stay at 135, and I think he can beat these other guys.
“However, these other guys in the division aren’t going to want to fight Lomachenko. These guys are scared of Lomachenko; they still fear Lomachenko for a reason.
“They’re so happy that Teofimo did what he did and beat Lomachenko because they can worry about other things, whether it’s [Ryan] Garcia or Tank or those guys amongst each other.
“Now they’re kind of excluding Loma out of the equation,” said Teofimo in speaking in the third person.
With Teofimo showing no interest in fighting Lomachenko again, his chances for important fights at 135 are limited. As Teofimo points out, Lomachenko is too good, and the other top guys at lightweight won’t want to fight him.
If Lomachenko wants to take on the best, he’s going to need to move back down to 130 because he’s going to be frozen out by the cream of the corp at 135, and that includes Teofimo.
Kambosos or Haney next for Lopez
“Just making the bigger and better fights,” said Teofimo when asked how he can make 2021 a bigger year for him than 2020.
“Lomachenko was a big fight. Now it’s about trying to find a way to make fans in there as well. It was a big difference without the fans.
“It was a huge difference knowing that this type of fighting with the magnitude of Lomachenko and me had, it didn’t feel as big. However, it was.
“Now it’s about 2021. Who’s next, where and when? If it’s not my mandatory Kambosos, it’ll be Devin Haney next, and if it’s not Devin Haney next, we’ll go from there.
“I think since they’re doing to travel ban, they’ve kind of made it more difficult now because of the travel ban in Australia now.
“That was the whole purpose of us fighting Kambosos because it was going to be in Australia.
“Who would say no to 60,000 fans in attendance? No one. That was the whole goal for it. Now that the fact with the COVID and everything, they have the travel ban—that kind of takes everything out of the equation where we might face Devin Haney next.
“I think a lot of people should be interested in who Teofimo is going to fight next because it’s coming very close. You guys never have to worry about Teofimo making the fights happen.
“You guys got to worry about the opposition side of it. Hopefully, these guys can work with us, and they don’t overprice themselves.
“Whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to beat them. I know they’re trying to take my bread & butter. We did it, don’t get comfortable, we got to keep moving,” said Lopez.
There’s a good chance that Teofimo will defend against his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr next. That’s the guy that Teofimo’s promoter Bob Arum wants, and he’s the one that calls the shots fr him.
Teofimo says Haney needs to improve his marketing ability
“He needs to step up his game with talking; he sucks at it, he’s horrible,” said Teofimo about Haney’s ability to trash-talk and promote his fights.
“It’s bad, really bad. They need to work on it. With Devin, he has a lot of things where it needs to be scripted. It just has got come out. Some got it; some don’t.
“Devin don’t got it, but that’s all right. We’re going to help him out in the process. The same way we helped Loma out in the process, we’re going to help Haney out in the process.
“We’re going to whip his [bleep] and make the fight happen. I’m trying to save his career. I did. I tried to protect his career. And I told him, ‘Three to five years, work your way up.’
“A lot of people take this wrong. I tried to protect this man’s career, but now he’s kind of gotten out of hand, and it’s kind of gotten me going now.
“We’re going to start pressing him on it. Me and my father are already good on it. We’re on the same page.
“He needs to take this fight; whether it’s $2 million or $3 million, he needs to take the fight. He’s not going to get what he thinks he’s going to get.
“He’s going to get less than that. I think he needs to understand that, and where he’s at in the opposition where he’s at.
“We’re going to choose the fight date; we’re going to choose the fight month because we’re the A-side.
“Understand the situation that is at hand, and understand what’s going on in the real world right now and make these fights happen for the fans.
“They need it. You guys all need it, instead of staying at home sitting on your couch, eating potato chips. You can eat potato chips watching a good fight, so that’s what it’s all about,” said Teofimo.
Haney is never going to be another Floyd Mayweather Jr with his ability to create interest in his fight. What you see is what you get with Devin (25-0, 15 KOs) right now.
If Teofimo wants to make a huge promotion involving Devin, he’s going to need to do all the work in promoting the fight.
It’ll be a similar situation as we saw in Teofimo’s fight with Lomachenko. He did all the promotional work for that fight, and it did well.
Lopez says only he beats Devin Haney
“Obviously, he’s younger than myself, and I’m young as well,” said Teofimo about his opponent Haney.
“I think he still has a lot more development to do. I don’t believe he’s the strongest guy at 135, and I believe there are so many flaws in his game that we’re going to take advantage of.
“But he is a tremendous fighter, and I don’t believe anyone outside of myself would beat him or give him as many problems as we are going to give him,” said Teofimo.
If Teofimo only believes he has the talent to beat Haney, why does he have Lomachenko rated #2 at 135 behind himself? It sounds like Teofimo is confused and talking without thinking.
People question Ryan Garcia’s chin
“I did not watch it,” said Teofimo about Rhan Garcia’s win over Luke Campbell last Saturday.
“However, I always stay up on everything. That is the main thing. Seeing him do what he did, I think it was very good for the sport as well.
“He came back when he got dropped by Luke Campbell. It wasn’t surprising to anyone.
“I don’t believe it was. People had a questioning feeling about Ryan Garcia’s chin, and Luke Campbell kind of showed it.
“He showed it that night. But for him to come back, that’s what everyone was surprised about.
“The way Ryan Garcia came back, and the way he finished the way he did, a lot of people are very happy about that. It’s great fights, all of us out hungry.
“The only thing is, we got to make the best fight the best. That’s what you guys want, so why not? Why is it they make it so difficult?
I understand it; everybody has got to get paid. This is the new world right now, and everybody has got to adapt to it,” said Lopez.
There is definitely a lot of questions now that need to be answered about Ryan Garcia’s ability to take a shot after his fight with Luke Campbell.
This wasn’t a big puncher Ryan was fighting, yet he was badly hurt when he was dropped. We saw the same thing from Ryan in his fight with Carlos Morales in 2018. Ryan was hurt by Morales, who isn’t a big puncher.
Teofimo admires Ryan Garcia social media skills
“I think it’s great for the sport, and he’s doing it the right way. The kid knows what he’s doing,” said Teofimo about Ryan Garcia.
“Whether it’s his team or not, they know what they’re doing with Ryan Garcia.
“He may not be the most skillful guy, but he is the most skillful social media guy out there when it comes to this department. You’ve got to give credit to that.
I don’t hate on none of these guys. I’m always going, to be honest with you. It’s good to see that. It motivates every one out there to show what you can be and what you can do.
“There’s so much more room and so much more things. I think that’s why so many of these fighters out there want Ryan Garcia next.
“They want Ryan Garcia next because they know the amount of exposure they’re going to get,” said Lopez.
Teofimo doesn’t have the same reach that Ryan Garcia does on social media, and one reason for that he lacks charisma. He’s arguably not as good of an interview as Ryan, and he doesn’t say the right things to get boxing fans interested in him.
Lopez rates himself #1, Lomachenko #2
“I’ll go like this. If you want to say my top five in the [lightweight] division, I say myself, Lomachenko, Ryan, Devin, and Tank,” said Teofimo.
“I’m questionable about Tank. Tank only fought one time at the lightweight division. Ryan Garcia – Tank that’ll be a great fight.
“They’ve been talking about it a couple of years now; they’ve been going back and forth on social media for a while.
“It was the same way we did with Lomachenko and myself. We were going back and forth, and my father was going back and forth as well.
“Look what happened. We made the fight happened, and everyone were so excited; everyone was happy and surprised at the outcome. I think this could be another situation at hand.
“It might not be the most skillful fight or the best fight, but I believe it’ll be a great fight for the fan to watch,” said Teofimo about a fight between Ryan Garcia and Tank Davis.
Lomachenko might still be the best fighter at 135, but he’s not going to get a chance to prove it. Teofimo won’t give Lomachenko a rematch, and none of the other top fighters at 135 will bother facing him.
Mayweather money not possible during the pandemic
“You can tell how anxious people are and how anxious the boxing fans and the critics are to want to see these type of fights,” said Lopez. They miss that. It’s all about we set the tone.
“The Takeover is not a joke—we Takeover for a reason. I think you guys are going to see some big fights happen.
“I hope everyone understands that you’re not going to make Mayweather type money in a COVID situation right now,” said Teofimo. “You’re not going to make $100 million.
“You’re not going to make those types of dollars. As long as people understand that and are OK with that, we can make these fights happen,” said Teofimo.
The money fights will involve Ryan Garcia, but only if he beats Tank Davis. If Ryan beats Tank, a fight between him and Teofimo will be huge.