Teofimo Lopez has explained why the fight with Devin Haney isn’t happening.
The two men had been linked to a 145lb catchweight bout in Saudi Arabia in August, in what would have brought two of the biggest names in the sport together.
Lopez is the reigning WBO super-lightweight champion, while Haney is the former undisputed lightweight champion who has also held world honours at 140lbs.
Any hope of seeing the fight was ended last week though when Haney revealed that Lopez had pulled out of the fight, with Lopez’s co-manager Keith Connolly stating the reasons for the clash not happening from his perspective.
Lopez has now spoken himself on the matter, explaining why he didn’t proceed with the fight.
“They broke a lot of contracts … I don’t believe that Haney deserves the acknowledge to come back like this. After a s**t performance like that, get a good win and let’s clear it up.
“There is no reason for me to go all the way to the Middle East, and it’s poor for everybody else that we build this fight in the US. As a business analyst on that part. I only have promotional fees to pay Top Rank but I can go anywhere. You could possible see me and Tank fight, you could see me and Boots fight, you could see other fights that could be made. What would you rather want to see?
“I don’t believe this move was for me, I believe it was mainly for the Haneys. They published it while I was reading the contract, that right there gave me a red flag. Why would I duck a guy that doesn’t punch. That is literally shot. I just looked at it as a set-up.”
For now, Haney and Lopez must search for different opponents.
