“I can’t figure it out,” were the first words by Bob Arum when he realized that Teofimo Lopez had turned down the Devin Haney bout. This was a bout that Teo himself had been chasing for years, and according to Arum, was a “much more winnable fight than with Ennis.”
Over the last few weeks, reports were rampant that The Dream and the WBO Super lightweight champion were locking in a deal for an August 16 fight in Riyadh. The fight would have been at a catchweight of 145 lbs. With the duo’s calendar seemingly empty, it would have been perfect timing. However, as the fate would have it, or as The Takeover would have it, the fight won’t be happening now after Lopez pulled out of the fight days before a deal was to be signed. Why? Let’s hear it from the man himself.
Teofimo Lopez’s bizarre reasoning
Recently, the 27-year-old during an X spaces conversation with his fan threw shade at Bill and Devin Haney. Lopez called the father-son duo corrupt, claiming that after the disappointing May 2nd performance by The Dream against Jose Ramirez, he doesn’t deserve a match. However, the real reason that he gave seems much more bizarre. While talking, Lopez revealed that while he received the contract, he never once accepted it, despite it being for a whopping $11 million. “I never took the deal that the checkerboard people wanted me to take, and I think this is what comes with it, people,” he stated. The reason? Well, simply because his gut told him not to.
“I just had to trust my intuition. Something told me not to take this fight with Haney,” the WBO super lightweight champion explained. Furthermore, with the way the May 2nd event went, he thinks it was the right decision. While this reasoning seems bizarre, this is not the first time Lopez has done something like that.
Over the last few years, Teo’s behavior has been erratic, with many decisions not making sense. He did not pursue avenging his loss against George Kambosos Jr., his racist remarks against Terence Crawford and Gervonta Davis, and now the rejection of the Devin Haney fight. However, this incident won’t rank as high as The Takeover later took to his social media to give a more detailed explanation, including the condition to make this fight happen.
A contract solely for Devin Haney’s benefit
In a detailed rant on his social media, Teofimo Lopez explained that the appeal of the Devin Haney fight was over after the underwhelming May 2nd performance. The fight could still happen, but for that, Devin Haney has to lift his performance, so that there is buzz amongst the fans for the bout. “After a s**t performance like that, get a good win and let’s stir it up,” he stated.
However, there are more aspects to it, as well as the fight solely benefited the Haneys and not him. “But there is no reason for me to go all the way across the Middle East and I think that it’s poor for everybody else that we built this fight in the U.S. I don’t believe that this move was for The Takeover. I believe it was mainly for the Haneys,” Teo added. Why? Well, according to the 27-year-old, the fight news was already published before he was even done going through the contract. Recalling the last few days, Teo stated, “They published it while I was reading the contract. That right there already gave me a red flag. This is all in cahoots for the media to promote Haney because they had a sh-t performance.”
Furthermore, the Brooklyn native proclaimed that he still has many options, including Gervonta Davis and Jaron Ennis. However, “They(Haneys) don’t have anybody else. Name me another fighter you guys will want to watch him(Devin Haney) fight,” Teo concluded.
There you have it. We might be robbed of an electrifying bout because of Teofimo Lopez’s guts. Hopefully, he reconsiders, because who’d pass up the chance to see Haney Sr. and Lopez Sr. go at it on the mic? The snarkiest dad-on-dad verbal brawl in boxing history. Do chime in with your opinion regarding the whole ordeal down below.
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