Teofimo Lopez won’t be fighting Devin Haney this summer.
It had been reported earlier this week that the two fighters had agreed to a 145lb catchweight bout in Saudi Arabia on August 16.
The bout would have come on the back of Lopez successfully defending his WBO super-lightweight title with a unanimous decision win over Arnold Barboza Jr at Times Square in New York last month.
On the same card, Haney claimed a points victory over Jose Ramirez, and in recent days he had seemingly turned his attention to a clash with Lopez for his next bout.
Despite agreeing to the fight, Haney revealed that Lopez had rejected the offer to face him, and subsequently branded him scared to fight. Many fans also came to the same conclusion.
Speaking to Ring Magazine, Lopez’s co-manager Keith Connolly revealed that his fighter is currently dealing with some personal issues that will rule him out of action until later in the year.
“Unfortunately, Teo won’t be fighting in August for personal reasons that I will keep confidential. We want to thank His Excellency for the opportunity and everything he has done for Teo.
“We planned on fighting but with what was going on he wanted to make sure he was 100% right mentally and physically and August was just too quick of a turnaround. I expect Teo to be back later this year, bigger and better than ever.”
The latest development could mean that a fight between Lopez and Haney could be revisited for later in the year, but for now it remains a fight that won’t be taking place soon.
