Ryan Garcia says he’ll be fighting Teofimo Lopez when he returns to the ring this year after his suspension expires. That goes along with what Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, is saying.
Garcia Moves On
Oscar said there’s no point in Ryan fighting Devin Haney again because he already “destroyed” him. He says the fight he wants for Garcia is WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs), who doesn’t have an opponent after choosing not to defend against Subriel Matias.
Teofimo’s career has stalled out since his loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021. Although he captured the WBO 140-lb title from a washed-up Josh Taylor in 2023, he’s looked awful in fights against Steve Claggett, Jamaine Ortiz, and Sandor Martin.
It’s obvious that Top Rank guessed wrong with Teofimo and should have dumped him after his loss to Kambosos rather than giving him an extension. He’s not shown any improvement since that loss.
Garcia states that he’d “throw down” with Haney, but he would need to drop the lawsuit he has out on him. Haney hasn’t said whether he will, but his recent comments suggest he won’t. Unfortunately, that leaves him high and dry, but he still has Turki Al-Shiekh. He still believes in him and will be helping him out this year.
If Devin loses once or twice this year, Turki will get a clue and likely give up on him. He’ll realize he’s not worth artificially propping up with time and money. It’d be better for Turki to give up on Haney sooner rather than later because he’s a lost cause.
“I’ll Whoop His A**” – Garcia
“I’ll be ready for whatever happens. It looks like I’m going to fight Teofimo Lopez. So, that’s good. I seen him today. He’s a little strange, but other than that, I’m ready to whoop his a**,” said Ryan Garcia to Secondsout about him fighting Teofimo Lopez next.
“I don’t know. You got to wait and see,” said Ryan when questioned about his fight with Teofimo. “But after I do fight him, I’ll be the first one to fight all three of the so-called ‘Four Kings.’ I’m the only one of them that fought all of them. Tank, Devin and Teofimo Lopez.
“I’m out here actually throwing it down with everybody. It seems like everybody is scared or whatever going on over here
“Not for me,” said Ryan when asked if it’s important to fight Devin Haney again so he can be vindicated due to his win being tarnished and taken away by the New York State Athletic Commission due to his positive drug test. “Fighting Teofimo Lopez would be just as satisfying as me doing a rematch with Devin.”
Ryan would receive way more credit for beating Teofimo than he would Haney at this point, as he’s already beaten the brakes out of him. He was beating Haney all around the ring from the first round.
Few people will give Haney much chance in a rematch with Garcia after the way he whipped him last April.
The boxing public would be very interested in a Garcia vs. Teofimo fight because the two have never fought before. The WBO 140-lb belt would be at stake, and Teofimo can do his part to help promote the fight. In Devin’s case, he relies on his dad, Bill, to do much of the work to create interest. That doesn’t work as well.
“Again, I’m not saying I wouldn’t. I’d throw down with him [Haney] again, but they got to stop all this nonsense [drop the lawsuit] before I even get in there,” said Garcia.
It doesn’t look like Haney and Bill plan to drop the lawsuit. They appear to be dug in and likely to fight until the bitter end with their suit, even though doing so would be shooting themselves in the foot.
Read the full article here
