Jack Catterall’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, sounded off tonight at the post-fight press conference, criticizing WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez defending his belt against Steve Claggett next rather than his fighter.
Instead of celebrating Catterall’s 12-round unanimous decision win over former undisputed 140-kb champion Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) tonight in Leeds, Hearn focused on the big fight that Jack could have against Teofimo if he weren’t already scheduled to fight #13 WBO Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) on June 29th.
Hearn admits that a fight between Catterall and the Bob Arum-promoted Teofimo could happen only if the Saudis were involved because Teo fights on ESPN.
Hearn Slams Teofimo’s “Disgraceful” Decision
“Teofimo Lopez is fighting Steve Claggett. It’s a f**** disgrace,” said promoter Eddie Hearn at the post-fight press conference tonight, venting about Teofimo Lopez defending his WBO light welterweight title next against #13 Steve Claggett on June 29th.
We don’t know why Top Rank picked Claggett for Teofimo to defend against. It could be that his last performance against Jamaine Ortiz in January was so bad that they felt he needed a confidence booster. Essentially, it was a defeat, but the judges gave Teo a controversial win.
“It’s a terrible fight. We got offered Steve Claggett for Subriel Matias, and I said, ‘He’s not good enough,’” said Hearn to Fight Hub TV. “What does he have, eight or nine losses on his record? That’s a terrible fight for ESPN.
Some would argue that it was a weak move on Catterall’s part to fight Josh Taylor after his loss to Teofimo last year in June. Taylor got dominated by Teofimo in a much worse manner than tonight’s victory by Catterall. Choosing to fight Taylor with him coming off a loss to Teofimo can be considered cherry-picking.
Catterall vs. Teofimo: The Dream Match
“Jack Catterall against Teofimo Lopez is a proper fight, but let him do his thing. We love that fight after,” said Hearn. “I’ll be honest. The referee match is there. It does exist [with Taylor]. It is a big fight, but the focus is a world championship fight.”
It would be easier for Hearn to set up a fight between Catterall and Devin Haney or Subriel Matias becaue he promotes both of those fighters. The money might not be as good fighting those guys.
“Teofimo Lopez because he talks a lot of s*** about me,” said Hearn when asked which champion he would pick out of all of them at 140 for Catterall to fight. “I think it would be a great build-up. He’s a great fighter.
“Only if it’s in Saudi Arabia,” said Hearn, wondering whether it’ll be easy to fight between Catterall and Teofimo, given the network issues. “They’ll never choose Jack Catterall for a [voluntary] defense because they know how good he is,” said Hearn.
It’s questionable whether the Saudis would want to stage a fight between Teofimo and Catterall. If they’re going to be involved, they think in big terms, and Catterall is small game. A bigger fight for Teofimo would be against Haney, Ryan Garcia, Vasily Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson or Jaron Ennis.
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