Devin Haney Says That Kambosos Exposed Teofimo Lopez
It’s well known that there is no love lost between WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (26-0, 15 KO’s) and Teofimo “Take Over” Lopez (16-1, 12 KO’s). The two have maintained a long and extensive social media rivalry. In his last outing however, Lopez suffered a stunning and sobering loss to “Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr (20-0, 10 KO’s).
With the defeat, the Australian underdog stole away his WBA super, WBO and IBF lightweight titles. Minus the hardware, the underlying reason to see a Haney versus Lopez bout evaporated.
The bout would still be a fun and meaningful fight simply because both fighters are representatives of the cream of the 135-pound division crop. Nevertheless, the more pressing matter was the issue of crowning the undisputed king of the division. Rather than facing Haney, the Take Over opted to provide mainly lip service. When doing so, sometimes he said he would fight him and others Lopez expressed a belief that there was no point. Now that he has no belts to speak of, it’s something of a moot issue.
RELATED: Devin Haney on Teofimo Lopez: “I’m Done Wasting My Energy On Him!”
YOU AIN’T NO MONSTER!
Naturally, Haney is disappointed that the appealing fight is now presently defunct. Yet, while he may be disappointed, the Californian kid is anything but surprised as he explained to Boxing Social.
“At the end of the day, if you look at interviews before the fight I was saying that something looked off about him. He looked like he wasn’t really focused on the fight. He said my name before the fight more than he even said Kambosos’ name.
So it showed in the fight. And at the end of the day, the result was the result, what can we do about it?”
Then going a step further, the Dream took a few shots at Lopez stating that he was essentially all smoke and mirrors the whole time.
“I said he was fraud. At the end of the day, he was trying to scare everybody or act like he was this big bad knockout artist but Kambosos exposed him. He showed that he wasn’t what everybody thought he was. And he knew that and that’s why he wasn’t in a rush to fight me.”
GOT TO HANDLE BUSINESS!
Due to this upset loss, the lightweight division has undergone a major shift. Although, this could be very beneficial. On December 4, Devin Haney will test his might against former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz. Provided that he beats Diaz, who will be staging his second fight at 135-pounds, it clears the way for a Haney versus Kambosos fight.
That particular showdown would crown an undisputed lightweight champion. Even better for boxing fans, thus far, Kambosos has been receptive to the idea of fighting the Dream when asked. Yet before we start daydreaming too intensely about Haney versus Kambosos for all the marbles, the WBC champion must first successfully defend his title for the fourth time. So, let’s see how it all plays out on December 4.
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By: Bakari Simpson
