By Adam Baskin: Teofimo Lopez has informed the WBO in writing that he will retain his 140-lb title, and he wants to face Devin Haney next in his first defense.
Teofimo (19-1, 13 KOs) beat the World Boxing Organization’s 9:00 p.m. ET deadline they had set for Wednesday night for him to decide whether he would keep his WBO light welterweight title or vacate it.
If Teofimo, 25, had vacated the belt, it would have been fought over by #1 WBO Arnold Barboza Jr and #2 Jose Ramirez, assuming Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) chose not to use his WBO 135-lb title to move up to 140 to fight Barboza Jr for the vacant belt.
Teofimo finally saw the light, knowing the huge money that he’ll get by retaining his WBO 140-lb belt and defending it against the popular – but beatable – Haney next.
It’s an ideal situation for Teofimo because he can get a much bigger payday fighting Haney than he would if he were to defend against the talented #1 contender Barboza Jr
The game is over..@TeofimoLopez just informed me in writing that he will retain his @WorldBoxingOrg jr welterweight title …@DanRafael1 @JakeNDaBox @MikeCoppinger @pugboxing @ChavaESPN @LoMejorDelBoxeo @NotiFight
— Paco Valcárcel, Esq. (@PacoValcarcel) July 13, 2023
The difficult part is for Teofimo’s promoters at Top Rank to hammer out a deal with Haney, who will likely ask for a King’s ransom because of his undisputed lightweight champion credentials and the fact that he’s coming off a win, albeit a controversial one, against Vasily Lomachenko last May.
It’s important that the renegade Haney not get too greedy and start thinking that he’s the King, ready to be anointed by one of his royal subjects. Devin doesn’t hold a belt at 140, and he’ll how to bow to the wishes of the king of the 140-lb division, Teofimo.
By the way, Teo let Haney know on Twitter that he’s NOT the A-side, so hopefully, he doesn’t run amok and start thinking he’s calling the shots because of his recent accomplishments at 135.
Haney is starting from scratch at 140 with a clean slate, and he’s now no better off than Barboza, Ramirez, or Ryan Garcia as a regular contender vying for a chance to fight the king of the division.
Yo hoe ass never retired n the first place.. let’s see if you really want the smoke. I’m gonna b 140 champ regardless. U asked for 20 million last time my pops talked too u. https://t.co/lDid9ZYJOP
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 13, 2023
It appears that when Teofimo saw that Haney was sniffing around, looking to capture his WBO belt once he vacated it, it perked up his competitive spirit, waking him up to what was about to happen if he didn’t write to the WBO to let them know he was going to keep his 140-lb belt.
Let’s do it.. https://t.co/qS5P8wnO4t
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 13, 2023
As you can see here, Teofimo woke up when he saw that Haney was about to slide on in and grab his WBO belt if he’d given it up without a fight. Teo worked hard for that title, beating the brakes off the former undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor last month at Madison Square Garden in New York.