Lopez Wants The Crawford Fight – ‘Give Me Crawford’
Teofimo Lopez is desperate to fight Terence Crawford before he retires.
Lopez has been chasing the Crawford fight for some time after Bud became the first Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the four-belt era. He stopped Errol Spence Jr. for the biggest win of his career. Lopez sought to target Crawford immediately. However, Bud has moved up to 154 pounds as he will fight Israil Madrimov on August 3.
Crawford also has eyes on fighting Canelo Alvarez for his Undisputed Super Middleweight Title at 168. That makes a Lopez-Crawford figure even unlikely. A more realistic idea is a fight at 154 or a catchweight. Lopez is a two-weight world champion and a two-time lineal champion. He beat the best at 135 when he boxed Vasiliy Lomachenko. He also defeated the former Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion Josh Taylor at 140. Lopez feels he has enough credibility to get that fight. But he stated that it would have to happen at 147.
Lopez On Crawford
“He’s just doing that so he can get one more bag, and then he’s going to be like, ‘I’m out. I done did everything.’ Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. He’s going up two more weight classes. Crawford isn’t stupid when it comes to that. Canelo is a little bit on his way out, but that’s a cash cow moment right there. You’re about to get like $50-100 million, easy. Shout out to His Excellency for trying to make boxing great again in those ways and to Turki Alalshikh. It’s to the point that they can’t even give me Crawford. I’m like, ‘Yo, give me Crawford so I can make it thrice,” Lopez said
Lopez has other options, however. He could fight Devin Haney at 140. That sets up a big unification. Lopez’s WBO belt would go up against Haney’s WBC title. Alternatively, they could meet each other at 147 after reports Haney could fight for Mario Barrios’ WBC title. Lopez could also pursue a fight with Isaac Cruz. Cruz is the WBA champion at 140. He stopped Rolando Romero to win the belt. Cruz has a huge Mexican fanbase, making this a big fight.
Will It Happen?
Gervonta Davis is also another possible name. Davis recently revealed he has a 6-7 fight deal with PBC, eclipsing Floyd Mayweather’s $200 million deal with Showtime. That would require Davis to fight the biggest names in the division. Tank has said he wants all the big fights, and Lopez would be one of them. Such a bout would take place at 140 since Davis has fought there before when he beat Barrios.
A final option is to fight Ryan Garcia once his ban is over. Garcia is banned for a year after testing positive for Ostarine, which made his win over Haney a no-contest. Lopez made some controversial remarks, stating that Garcia sold his soul while also bringing up Ryan’s mother, who has breast cancer. Garcia vowed to hurt Lopez if he saw him, setting up the narrative for a fight. Lopez may be one of the most skilled boxers out there, but he needs the right dance partner to make the biggest fights.
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