Devin Haney states that Teofimo Lopez was offered a fight against him in a Riyadh Season event for October because he was “ready.”
Fans think Haney is lying about Teofimo turning down the fight, which is an opportunity to make millions fighting someone with whom he would have a huge power advantage in a fight with Haney (31-0, 15 KOs).
A fight like that would not only give Teofimo the biggest payday of his career but also take his star power to the next level. Teo has been pushing hard for fights against Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, and Ryan Garcia.
The two-division world champion Teofimo has had no luck getting any of those three to fight him, so it’s impossible to believe he would turn down an offer to fight Haney.
“I was supposed to get back in the ring in October in Saudi Arabia, and the next fight was going to be Teo. Turki offered him a fight. He said he’s not ready,” said Haney to the All The Smoke Fight channel about Teofimo rejecting a fight offer to face him.
What Haney says will play well for his followers, who believe that Teofimo is afraid of him, but the rest of the boxing public will see it as cap. No one is afraid of Haney after watching him get dropped repeatedly in his loss to Ryan Garcia on April 20th in Brooklyn, New York.
Haney should have been knocked out in the seventh round of that fight if not for the referee stopping the action to deduct a point from Ryan without warning for hitting on the break. That move saved Haney because it gave him time to recover.
Former two-division world champion Haney hasn’t said who he plans on fighting when he returns to the ring. He recently vacated his WBC light welterweight title and is now belt-less. In the interview with All The Smoke, Haney mentioned that for a rematch to happen with Ryan Garcia, it would have to be on his terms. That’s not going to happen.
Promoter Eddie Hearn expressed doubts about Haney’s ability to get the tune-up fight that he needs because he would want too much money.
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