Richardson Hitchins said tonight that Teofimo Lopez did not send him an offer. He reiterated that he wants Lopez to send the contract with the “right zeros” in it.
The unification match against IBF light welterweight champion Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) is supposed to be the first of the three-fight deal for WBO 140-lb champion Teofimo with Turki Al-Sheikh. The other two are against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October and the loser or winner of the Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2 rematch.
Is Teo Backing Down?
Could it be that Teofimo wants to take an easier fight than Richardson for his first of the three-fight contract with Al-Sheikh? Would he be willing to let Lopez take a scrub to ensure he doesn’t get off on the wrong foot with a loss? Turki usually expects fighters on his cards to fight quality opponents; I don’t think he would be up for the idea of Teo facing another Steve Claggett.
“Teofimo, I don’t know about all that bull s*** and all that talk on the Internet, talking about how you got $1.3 or $1.5 for whatever fight. I don’t give a f*** about none of that. What are you talking about?” said Richardson Hitchins on social media, reacting to Teofimo Lopez telling him to accept the offer that was sent to him.
“Listen, you turned down an offer from Devin Haney. You turned down a $2.8 million offer for Subriel Matias. You never seen $2.8 million. You talking about Subriel Matias ain’t good enough to fight you. Who the f*** is you? On pay-per-view, you would have left with $3 million.
“You’re the only one ducking. Ain’t no offer been sent to me. Like I said. Send the contender. If the numbers are right and the date and the time, I’m there. Ain’t no excuses, and your dad is in the background talking all that s***.”
No Contract, No Courage?
It sounds like Teo is getting cold feet and is having second thoughts about taking the fight with Hithchins. This is similar behavior to how Lopez acted with Subriel Matias and Devin Haney. It’s strange how Teofimo says that he wants to fight these guys, but when they attempt to get a clash made, he turns them down.
If Teofimo won’t fight Hitchins, he’ll have to face the winner of the WBO title eliminator between Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza Jr., which would be a fight for Teo’s belt. It’s doubtful that Teofimo would want to fight a unification bout with WBA champion Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela or WBC champ Alberto Puello because those would be difficult fights that he could lose.
“Stop saying my name. Stop going on the Internet, talking all that s***. Richardson Hitchinson is the only name at 140 right now that makes sense. So, like I said, when they send that offer, make sure it’s the right zeros, and I’m there. That’s all I got to say.
“I never ducked no smoke. Ain’t no contract or nothing has been sent to me. What are you talking about?” said Hitchins to Teofimo.
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