Bob Arum says Bill Haney dropped the ball on making Teofimo Lopez v Devin Haney
Unified lightweight champion “The Takeover” Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12ko) will always be linked to WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (26-0, 15ko) until they get into the ring. These two fighters have a long history, and fans want to see them fight while still in their prime.
Now, during media week for the trilogy fight between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder, legendary promoter Bob Arum dropped a bombshell. In an interview with FightHype, he said Bill Haney missed out on a meeting to make the Lopez fight.
“I get, through Derrick Harmon, who works for our company, that Haney’s father approaches him, says he wants to come in and never shows up. I ain’t chasing him. They know where to find me. We have had our office there for six years. So if he wants to talk, let him come over to the office.”
Now, keep in mind, Haney has been calling out to fight Lopez before either of them were champions. The history between the two fighters goes back to their days in the amateurs. Once they both entered the professional level, the rivalry has grown more intense.
Lopez coined the phrase “email champion”, referencing how his counterpart became a champion. Furthermore, he has, in the past, not shown very much interest in fighting the WBC champion. For one example, he uses the WBC Franchise title as a way of saying Haney brings nothing to the table because his belt holds no value.
However, the unified champion has been talking differently this year. Earlier, the WBC declared the winner of Joseph Diaz versus Javier Fortuna would face Haney. Lopez quickly took to social media claiming to want Haney next. Moreover, Lopez also spoke with FightHype to back up Arum’s claim, and he was very candid about the Haney fight needing to happen.
“I am not saying no to it (Haney fight). Ge was supposed to meet up with Bob Arum, him and his father, at Top Rank office to make the fight, and they didn’t show.
“So who’s really ducking who…We got to fight at some point…I am trying to end the Dream’s career because he is just living in the dream…..I am a nightmare.”
Of course, Lopez has to take care of his IBF lightweight mandatory challenger, George Kambosos, first. However, it is good to see the interest in fighting Haney is at the top of his list, and perhaps we will see it in 2022.
By: Garrisson Bland
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