Terence Crawford has laid down a challenge for Teofimo Lopez.
Lopez has been vocal in his pursuit of a fight with the pound-for-pound star, willing to move up from super-lightweight where he is currently champion to super-welter, the latest division Crawford has won a belt.
He did that by dethroning Israil Madrimov in his debut at the weight, ending a long knockout streak but winning by unanimous decision to take the previously-undefeated Uzbek’s WBA title.
Madrimov provided a stern test, his awkward style stopping Crawford from settling into a prolonged rhythm. He felt he won the fight and promoter Eddie Hearn took serious issue with the scorecards post-fight.
Crawford, as with all of his opponents, respects the skills of Madrimov. So much so in fact that he is now willing to use him as a gatekeeper for Lopez. In a back-and-forth on social media to continue a bubbling feud, the 37-year-old told ‘Teo’ to face his former opponent to prove he was serious about the fight.
“You fight and beat Israil Madrimov next, I’ll whoop your ass next, bet? Now let’s see how much you wanna fight.”
Lopez did not reply directly to the challenge, though did tell Crawford, “we either lace up the gloves or shut your hoe ass up!” He currently doesn’t have a fight scheduled and it’s unclear if he will vacate his world title at 140 to move up, even regardless of scoring the Crawford fight.
As for ‘Bud’, he is still in hot pursuit of a further move-up in weight of his own, continuing to call out Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Should that fail to materialise, he is in ordered talks with Sebastian Fundora for a unification fight.
