Light welterweight champions Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) and Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) are close to hammering out a deal for a fight in May or June. This would be one of the Riyadh Season events.
Next Up: Hitchins
Ring Magazine reports that WBO champion Teofimo, 27, and IBF belt-holder Hitchins are nearly finalized. This match has been discussed since the Brooklyn, New York native Lopez signed a three-fight deal with Turki Al-Sheikh.
It’s a deal that could end in disaster for Teofimo, with his career facing oblivion if he loses all three fights for Turki, which is predictable. The idea that has been floated is that Teofimo will run the gauntlet through these three fights:
- Richardson Hitchins
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis – October
- Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney – *losers bracket
If Teofimo sticks it out through those three fights without Turki pulling the plug on him, it’s predictable that he’ll be 0-3, heading to the scrap heap career-wise. What will be interesting is to see which promoter is eager to sign Teofimo after he completes these three fights. He’d still be popular in an Adrien Broner-type of way, but he would be seen as washed up by hardcore boxing fans.
Teofimo would still be able to generate interest in his fights with his trash-talking, but as far as beating any of the killers at 140, he’d be useless. You couldn’t put Teo in with guys like Ernesto Mercado, Barboza, Catterall, or Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and expect him to be victorious.
Lopez is largely viewed now as a one-hit wonder, known for his victory over an injured, smaller, and much older Vasily Lomachenko in 2020. Everything Teofimo has done since then has been bad.
Lopez has looked something awful in five of the six fights he’s had since the Loma clash and has been gifted a couple of decisions against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz. Perhaps the unkindest cut was Teofimo getting beaten by George Kambosos Jr. That defeat put things in perspective on how much damage Lomachenko did to the New Yorker.
Some fans feel Lomachenko ruined Teofimo with the punishment he administered in that fight. Although Teo won by a narrow decision, Lomachenko got his pound of flesh, leaving him looking like a shell of his former self in fights since.
Dodging the Mandatory
The World Boxing Organization recently ordered Teofimo to defend against the winner of the February 14th match between #1 Arnold Barboza Jr. and #2 Jack Catterall. Interestingly, Teo has NEVER defended his WBO 140 light welterweight title since winning against a faded, shopworn Josh Taylor on June 10, 2023.
However, with Lopez fighting Hitchins in a unification fight involving their two belts, Teofimo can circumvent the WBO’s order to defend against the Barboza Jr-Catterall winner next.
That’s a good thing for Teo because he would likely lose to either of those fighters, and that would send his career heading downhill, which it likely will do anyway after he finishes his three-fight deal with Turki.
He’s dodging a defeat against that guy but still facing a nightmarish three-fight gauntlet that will make him one of the untouchable class of fighters. Teofimo’s career will implode like a submarine that has reached its crush depths in the ocean.
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