The undisputed lightweight champion American Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) is convinced that something is wrong with his compatriot Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs). It is possible that he never recovered from a painful defeat to Australian George Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs).
In 2019, Lopez took the IBF lightweight belt from Richard Commey, and 10 months later he threw the division leader Vasily Lomachenko off the throne and became the undisputed world champion. Teofimo sensationally lost all the belts to Kambosos, who in turn lost twice in a row to Haney. This year, Lopez changed divisions – in the super lightweight limit, so far, he is not impressive.
Opinion Haney: “He’s not like he used to be. Maybe it was Kambosos who broke it. Or in that fight, Lopez had some health problems that even now affect. Don’t know. But he’s definitely not who he was before. You all saw what happened after his fight with Sandor Martin. He asked his father: “Do I still have gunpowder?” This means that he doubts himself. As for me, he needs a pause, he needs to put his thoughts in order. And only then return to boxing.
Haney is worried that if Lopez goes to the top fighters of the division, he will get a good one: “It seems to me that if he accepts a fight with dudes like Regis Prograis or Jose Ramirez, then he will fly great. These dudes are real punchers. I do not argue, I would be interested to watch these fights. And not only to me. After all, even now these are cool fights. Cool and big. What exactly is his problem? I don’t know. It can be both a mental problem and a physical one. Am I ready to fight him? If he signs the contract, then I will not think about his problems. I use all of his weaknesses in combat.”
Haney claims to move up to super lightweight next year. He’s aiming for the WBO title – he suspects champ Josh Taylor will move up to welterweight next year and vacate the belt.
But for now, all Haney’s thoughts about the fight with Lomachenko are: “Vasily is a great master? For Arum, but not for me.” Devin told where and when his fight with Lomachenko will take place.
