Lopez Says Haney, Kambosos Rejected Fight Offers

November 28, 2024

4 months

Lopez Says Haney, Kambosos Rejected Fight Offers

Teofimo Lopez says Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr. have rejected offers to fight him.

Lopez is the WBO Junior Welterweight Champion who is coming off a victory against Steve Claggett in his last fight. Despite Lopez being a two-weight and two-time lineal champion, he has struggled to secure big fights at 140 and above. After the Claggett win, Lopez called out Terence Crawford. Crawford is the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion after beating Israil Madrimov to secure the belt. However, Crawford’s focus is on getting a lucrative fight with Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds. The Crawford fight would also require Lopez to jump up to weight classes to 154, making it an unrealistic bout.

Lopez has also struggled to get into fights with Haney and Kambosos. Lopez was a big rival with Haney during their time at 135 pounds. However, once Lopez lost to Kambosos, he moved up to 140. Haney would eventually win all the belts at 135, beating Kambosos twice to become the undisputed champion. Haney recently confirmed that Lopez turned down an October fight. The Takeover reacted to those comments after reports broke that he was in talks to fight Haney. He rejected the claims, calling it fake news.

“Where did all these rumors come out of? These things came out of hat. I haven’t had no contract sent to me. They said we negotiated. Who said we negotiated? “I’m hearing rumors of me in negotiations with me and Devin Haney. Right now, I’m sorry to say, guys, this is all false accusation [reports] until further notice,” Lopez said

Lopez Reacts

Lopez has also been linked with a rematch against Kambosos for some time. Kambosos recently left Top Rank and signed with Matchroom Boxing. He indicated that his future lies at junior welterweight. However, Lopez has now claimed that both Haney and Kambosos rejected offers.

“We sent reasonable offers to fight to both Team Haney and Team Kambosos. Both have declined! If you don’t believe it, ask @trboxing and @BruceTrampler,” Lopez said

Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the following points. Lopez has been accused of having unrealistic financial expectations. After beating Josh Taylor to become the WBO Junior Welterweight Champion, Teofimo announced his shock retirement. He said he would only come back for nine-figure paydays. But he reversed his decision soon after, despite not having had his demands met. He also failed to sell out the Josh Taylor fight in his hometown at Madison Square Garden, suggesting that Lopez does not have the commercial pulling power.

However, unlike Kambosos, who has a big Australian fanbase, Lopez has divided the boxing fan base. Meanwhile, Haney managed to secure big purses, namely through the Ryan Garcia fight, despite not having the most pleasing boxing style on the eye. But those are some of the biggest fights out there for Lopez. And if enough money is put up to satisfy all sides, it would no doubt sell out.