Teofimo Lopez won’t fight Devin Haney next – says Bob Arum

By Boxing News - 06/12/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Bob Arum has ruled out Devin Haney being the next opponent for Teofimo Lopez after he comes through his June 19th fight against George Kambosos Jr.

Arum says “it’s too complicated” to put a fight together between WBC lightweight champion Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) and IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO champ Teofimo right now in 2021.

Bob states that he already had a conversation with Teofimo’s manager David McWater about Teo’s next fight;

Teofimo’s options for the next fight:

  • Jose Pedraza vs. Julian Rodriguez winner – Those two are battling tonight on Top Rank’s Shakur Stevenson vs. Jeremiah Nakathilia card on ESPN. If Teofimo wants to fight undisputed 140-lb champion Josh Taylor, Arum will have him first take on the winner of the Pedraza vs. Rodriguez contest, presumably to get him acclimated to the light welterweight division
  • Vasily Lomachenko – an extreme longshot. Don’t hold your breath waiting for Teofimo to fight Loma again.

It’s safe to say that you can scratch Lomachenko’s name off the list of options that Arum mentioned for Teofimo’s next fight because Teo wants no part of Loma. Call it a duck or whatever, but Teofimo and his dad have both said they don’t want to fight Lomachenko again.

That leaves only the winner of tonight’s Jose Pedraza vs. Julian Rodriguez as Teofimo’s next opponents.

That’s it. Teofimo will face either Pedraza or Rodriguez next at 140 because he won’t fight Lomachenko, and he can’t fight Haney.

Apparently, Teofimo is aware that he can’t fight Haney next, which means that the only reason he would have to mention his name right now is to attract more interest in his fight with George Kambosos Jr.

Is Teofimo using Haney for clout chasing purposes?

You can make a strong argument that the only reason for Teofimo telling the media and fans that he’s planning on fighting Haney next is to attract interest in his June 19th fight against Kambosos.

It’s an old trick fighters/promoters use to build interest in lesser fights by name-dropping popular fighters to give a false impression that they’re fighting that person next. The reality is often quite different, with the fighter facing a lesser name.

Arum rules out Teofimo fighting Haney fight next

“Teofimo, I talked to his manager David McWater, and he has a number of ways to go,” said Teofimo’s promoter Bob Arum to SnowqueenLA.

Image: Teofimo Lopez won't fight Devin Haney next - says Bob Arum

“One, if he wants to do a lightweight fight, the best fight as far as he wants to do pay-per-view is a rematch with Lomachenko. That would do good business.

“But he [Teofimo] may very well decide his goal is to fight Josh Taylor, in which case I may put him in with one of our 140-pounders like Julian Rodriguez or Jose Pedraza, whoever wins on Saturday.

“That would be a very interesting fight for Teofimo either against Pedraza in the [Madison Square] Garcia in New York or Julian Rodriguez,” said Arum.

So there it is. Arum saying that Teofimo will either be fighting Lomachenko or the winner of the Pedraza vs. Rodriguez fight next.

As Sean Jones already said, Teofimo WON’T be fighting Lomachenko next – and likely ever again – because he wants no part of that smoke.

You can argue that Teofimo got lucky fighting Lomachenko when he had an injured shoulder. Now that Lomachenko is healthy, he need not apply.

Haney “out of the picture” for Teofimo

“Devin Haney, the problem with Devin Haney is that he has 30 days that he has to talk to Eddie Hearn,” Arum said. “After 30 days, Eddie Hearn has the right to match.

Image: Teofimo Lopez won't fight Devin Haney next - says Bob Arum

“It’s too complicated if I have to get him in the ring in October,” Arum continued. “Teofimo’s wife is having a baby in November, and he wants to get the fight done before his child is born.

“So Devin Haney is going to be out of the picture for now because of the legalities. I don’t care what anyone wants.

“There are contracts, and there are problems in doing a lot of things. Wanting, it’s not like a bad who want a certain kind of ice cream,” said Arum in ruling out a fight between Teofimo and Haney in 2021.

Given that Teofimo is moving up to 140, it pretty much rules out Haney ever fighting him unless he moves up in weight too someday.

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