By Sean Jones: Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez says he wants to retire WBC belt-holder Devin Haney because of all the talking that he’d done.
Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) and his promoter Eddie Hearn have repeatedly told the boxing public that Teofimo is NOT the undisputed champion at 135 and that he still needs to fight him because the WBC Franchise title that he holds is a “fake belt.”
For his part, Teofimo reminds fans that Haney picked up his WBC lightweight title through email after the World Boxing Council elevated him to the 135-lb champion status outside of the ring.
If Teofimo can fight Haney, he can settle things once and for all in terms of which of the two deserves to be the WBC champion. Right now, neither fighter deserves to be called the WBC champion because they didn’t fight for the belt.
Teofimo picked up his WBC Franchise strap after beating an injured Vasily Lomachenko on October 17th last year in their fight on ESPN pay-per-view. Lomachenko wasn’t the WBC champion. He the Franchise champion, which is a completely different belt.
Ending Haney’s career is on Teofimo’s agenda
“It’s a good fight and it’s a good one for him. We’ll see what he can bring with a solid fighter like [Jorge] Linares,” said Teofimo in commenting on WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney’s fight next month against Jorge Linares.
“I just want to end the kid’s career,” said Teofimo about him wanting to face Haney and send him into retirement.
“He’s been talking about it too much. If anybody can give him that first loss, why not be me, you know? That way, I can always remind him that it was me that did it,” said Lopez of Haney.
Fans don’t know who wins between Haney and Teofimo because neither guy has impressed enough to say for certain who would win.
Teofimo looked like a six-round fighter in his last fight against Lomachenko, running out of gas in the second half.
The stamina issues that Teofimo has been showing since his fight with Masayoshi Nakatani could be a result of him being too big for the 135-lb division.
With Teofimo walking about at 160, he’s too big for the lightweight division, so it makes sense that he gasses out quickly. Teofimo should have moved up to 140 or preferably 147 after his fight with Nakatani in 2019.
If Teofimo gasses out against Haney, he’ll lose for sure. Haney is someone who will box Teofimo’s ears off if he fades in the second half against him.
Teofimo not certain Haney beats Linares
“We’ll see, it will depend on what type of Linares that we’ll have,” said Teofimo when asked if Linares will beat Haney.
“Are we going to get the beginning of what he [Linares] did against Loma or will we be getting the ending of what happened with Loma.
“Will we see Devin Haney outbox him and try to look pretty like he tries to do all the time and have a clean decision? We’ll see what happens,” said Teofimo.
If Jorge Linares can handle Devin Haney’s power, such as it is, he’s got the boxing skills and hand speed to beat him. Linares isn’t a shot fighter despite being up there in age at 35.
The only issueLinares has is in the chin department, and Haney doesn’t possess the type of power that would normally bother Linares. We don’t know how Haney is going to react in stepping up against a quality fighter like Linares next month.
In Haney’s last fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa, he was unimpressive in boxing his way to a boring 12 round decision.
