By Sean Jones: Teofimo Lopez says he wants to beat WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney to prove what a “fraud” that he is and then throw away his “email” belt because it’s meaningless.
It’s going to make the WBC and Haney look bad if Teofimo devalues the title by throwing it in the trash can if he’s able to beat Devin.
In IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo’s mind, the only thing that’s keeping Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) “relevant” is his email title, which is why he holds onto it so tightly when he’s on stage. He knows that without that belt, he’s nothing.
Devin constantly reminds the boxing public that Teofimo isn’t the undisputed lightweight champion he claims to be, as he still needs his WBC 135-lb title to complete his goal.
Teofimo says he’s going to fight Haney and take his WBC email trinket after he defeats his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr on June 19th. Those two are headlining on Triller Fight Club pay-per-view at the LoanDepot Parker in Miami, Florida.
Haney was elevated to WBC 135-lb champion by the World Boxing Council in 2019 at the same time they gave Vasily Lomachenko the Franchise tag.
Teofimo will throwaway Haney’s email title
“I’ve been wanting Devin for the fraud that he is, that’s all it is,” said Teofimo Lopez to SnowqueenLA. “I’ve been wanting him for the fraud that he really truly is. It’s not about that belt [WBC lightweight title].
“When I win and beat Devin, I’m going to put an email stamp on that [WBC] belt, and I’m going to throw it away because it doesn’t mean anything, it’s bull sh*t.
At that press conference, you could see that he [Haney] was holding tight on that [WBC] belt because that’s the only thing that’s keeping him relevant.
“None of this matters unless I beat Kambosos, and I already know that.
“When fight week comes, that’s when it really counts,” said Teofimo in reacting to George Kambosos trying to scare him.
“This fight isn’t going to go past the first. A lot of people want to stop Teofimo, but they just can’t,” Teofimo said.
Technically, Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) needs Haney’s WBC lightweight title for him to become the undisputed champion. Teo can’t rightfully call himself the undisputed 135-lb champion until he beats Haney.
You can argue that Teofimo should have asked the International Boxing Federation for an exception to steer around his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) temporarily until he faces Haney first.
The IBF likely would have granted Teofimo permission to make that move, but he chose not to ask.
So instead of fighting Haney, Teofimo is stuck with this nothing fight against Kambosos, which almost no one is talking about.
Mikey Garcia fight interests Teo as a backup option
“They mentioned two guys for Josh Taylor and my name was one of them,” said Teofimo. “People know what it’s all about.
“Some guys like Taylor feel like they’ve done everything in the sport and they’re satisfied.
“So they don’t feel like they need to fight anymore competition or anything like that.
“The Lomachenko fight made me ten times better and I was already better as it was. That’s why I can’t wait until June 19th. I can’t wait to put in that work ethic like I put in here.
“Cool, if Josh Taylor doesn’t want to fight me, we can make things like that happen,” said Teofimo about a fight between him and Mikey Garcia.
“I don’t see why not. Put him in front of me and I’ll beat him. People are calling Teofimo out for a reason now. I’m telling you, people need to get a payday. So if you fight Teofimo, you get a payday,” said Teofimo in talking in the third person.
If Teofimo called Mikey Garcia’s bluff, he wouldn’t take the fight with him. Mikey hasn’t fought at 135 since 2018, and it’s doubtful that he could take enough wait off for him to get back down lightweight.
Even if Mikey could, he probably wouldn’t want to fight Teofimo due to the danger.
Mikey has been holding out for a fight against Manny Pacquiao for the last two years, and he’s basically done zero with his career since his loss to Errol Spence Jr in 2019.
Josh Taylor is already setting up conditions that Teofimo must meet for him to fight him. He wants Teofimo to become the undisputed lightweight champion before he’d consider fighting him.
By the time Teofimo does that by beating Haney, Taylor will likely have moved up to 147, out of reach.
Teo says Gervonta is avoiding him
“I think it’s just avoiding the guys at 135,” said Teofimo when asked his opinion of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis going up to 140 to challenge WBA secondary light welterweight champion Mario Barrios.
“You got to 140 to make it look good and sound good. For sure,” Teofimo said when asked if Tank Davis avoided him.
“We didn’t back down on Loma,” said Teofimo. “We called him out for two years, and we finally made it happen, and look what happened. I beat him unanimously, I demolished him.
“I outboxed the most technical fighter in the game that they [Top Rank promoter Bob Arum] were saying that they compared him to the next [Muhammad] Ali, making him seem like a God. But now that Teofimo beat him, everyone wants to discredit him,” said Teofimo.
Likely, Mayweather Promotions will never let Gervonta Davis fight Teofimo. They seem to be only interested in matching Tank against guys that they’re certain he can beat. When Mayweather Promotions are not certain, they don’t make the fight for Tank.
That explains why Tank was never matched against Vasily Lomachenko all these years and why he’s being moved up to 140 to fight the weakest link among the champions in Mario Barrios.
Lopez still reliving his win over Loma
“Lomachenko keeps calling this and that, but I took your heart when it came to those championship rounds,” said Teofimo. “In those championship rounds, it’s no longer about the technique.
“It’s no longer about the game plan that you had, it’s about who wants it more, how bad you want it.
“When I stepped up to the plate in the last round [12th], who backed down? Loma. I took your heart. No matter what it is, I wanted it more. Those are the championship rounds that show your heart,” said Teofimo.
It would be a good idea for Teofimo to stop giving his win over Lomachenko so much screen time in his mind and forget about it.
Teo needs to live in the present and focus on Kambosos. No one cares about Teofimo’s past glory against Lomachenko because it’s over with. The way Teofimo drones on about his win over Lomachenko makes him seem a lot older than his chronological age of 23.
