By Dan Ambrose: Teofimo Lopez has come out of his brief retirement and has agreed to defend his WBO light welterweight title against Devin Haney next. Devin is on board with the fight with Teo, saying, “Let’s do it.”
Teofimo informed Haney last night that he’s the A-side, so if he’s got any big ideas about him calling the shots, he can forget it. Teo is the one that holds the belt at 140, not Haney. If Haney is serious about wanting the Teofimo fight, it’s an easy one to make.
Will Tank Davis be a show-stopper?
What could get in the way of this match being made is if Gervonta Davis decides he wants Haney next, and that’s possible.
If Tank Davis wants to become undisputed at lightweight, he must move quickly and pull the trigger on the Haney fight before he vacates his four titles at 135 to challenge Teofimo for his WBO belt at 140.
With Teofimo’s punching power, it’s game over if he nails Haney on the button. This is a tough fight for Haney in his first match at 140, but he’ll get paid well. Teo had looked poor in his recent fights against Sandor Martin, Pedro Campa, and George Kambosos Jr.
However, after Teofimo’s last performance against Josh Taylor, he would have to be a huge favorite to defeat Haney. That was vintage Teo, showing the same form that enabled him to defeat Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.
It’s easily the most significant payday available for the 24-year-old Devin at 140. Ryan Garcia would be an excellent fight for Haney, but he’s not shown interest in fighting him in the past, so he’s not a realistic option.
What? 20 M’s? I didn’t even stat out the location of our fight let alone put a price on the fight. What you talking about man?!.
Start losing weight and we’ll figure out the rest so we can give the fight fans a DREAM that will TAKEOVER the sport of BOXING! https://t.co/Kuc4DQIJF2
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) July 13, 2023
Can Teofimo-Haney fight be negotiated?
Haney might have to humble himself and accept a lowball offer similar to the one he agreed to for the first George Kambosos Jr fight last year to get the Teofimo (19-1, 18 KOs) fight.
But, like with that fight, if everything goes right for Haney, he’ll win and call the shots in a rematch with Teo, if there is one.
It’s going to take a significant improvement from Haney over his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko for him to kick Teofimo off his throne because the way he looked against Loma, he’s likely to get blown out of the water by the faster & more powerful Teo.
Teofimo, 25, and Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) went back & forth on Twitter last night after Teo advised the World Boxing Organization that he
Teo told Haney he needs to start losing weight now because he wants to give fans a “dream” fight. Haney looks huge between fights, and he’ll need to trim off a lot of weight to make 140.
Haney is moving up from 135 because he’s gotten too big for the lightweight division, but the five pounds of cushion he’ll now have might not be enough.
https://youtu.be/Xjr8ENIsA-M?t=505