Teófimo López On Devin Haney:’That Kid’s P*****G Me Off’
Unified lightweight champion Teófimo López is eyeing up a potential fight with the undefeated WBC champion Devin Haney. Speaking to the AK&Barak show, López opened up about Haney, who has been vocal about wanting to step into the ring with López.
” I’ll be honest, man, that kid’s pissing me off. Like, a lot,” López exclaimed.
” He is like a mosquito that keeps coming, and I’m just trying to swat it out. It’s just because he is non-stop. He just keeps yapping his mouth, but he hasn’t really done much to be even talking like that. Like, talking so much, you know what I mean.
” At least, like for Tank [Gerovanta Davis], he can talk because he got like pop, that’s going to hold him always. My man [ Haney] just cause he is trying to look pretty in a fight don’t mean you can talk like that, you know.’
The 23-year-old Brooklyn-native had a banner year in 2020 after dethroning reigning lightweight king Vasyl Lomachenko back in October. López put on a masterclass in boxing to hand the Ukrainian just the second defeat of his professional career.
López’s unanimous decision victory saw him secure the WBO, WBA, and Ring magazine titles, to go along with his IBF belt. He now has a growing list of challengers wanting a title shot.
” All those guys I really want to take out, I just can’t all have them at one night. There are fights that are going to happen. It’s just with time,” Haney said.
” Honestly, I am trying to do this kid [Haney] a favor, but I don’t think he sees it.
” I am giving him that option. I am going to give you a couple more fights so that you can prove that you’re actually worthy to fight this and at least have the opportunity to do so. It could be a mega fight, like the Loma-López type of fight. It could be a super bowl type of fight.”
A López-Haney clash for the all four lightweight belts would be a fight that fans would be lining up to see. However, it may not happen immediately, especially as Haney has two mandatory bouts awaiting him.
The 22-year-old is expected to meet the winner of the upcoming Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell fight. If he can get past that fight, the WBC has said he will then face Javier Fortuna. The reason for that is because Fortuna was scheduled to fight for the then-vacant title in August against Jorge Linares, but the bout was scrapped after Linares tested positive for COVID-19.
Whatever happens, the lightweight division has plenty of exciting matchups waiting to be made, but hopefully, in 2021, fans can see López and Haney squaring off inside the ring.
How do you think López- Haney plays out?
