Teofimo Lopez Says DAZN Stole his Belts to Give to Devin Haney
Four months ago, Teofimo “Take Over” Lopez (16-1, 12 KO’s) lost his three lightweight titles to “Ferocious” George Kambosos (20-0, 10 KO’s) in a rather stunning upset. Since that time, the brash and cocky fighter has all but disappeared from the public spotlight. Prior to losing the power of speech, Lopez did make the announcement that he would neither seek a rematch nor remain in the division. This was due to his decision to move up to super lightweight.
Many found this declaration disappointing because a rematch would have been very revealing. Also, there was a burning desire to see Lopez take on WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (27-0, 15 KO’s). Haney had fruitlessly pursued a dustup with Take Over for quite some time. Now the Haney versus Lopez bout has been put on the back burner for the foreseeable future, if not forever. This is because the WBC champion will get his shot at undisputed against Kambosos on June 5.
THE ILLUMINATI DID IT!
When recently asked about a duel between Kambosos and Haney, Lopez displayed extreme disinterest. While that is not surprising, it was off-putting to hear the Take Over reveal his own conspiracy theory.
“It’s a made fight for Haney. The whole shit was a scheme! I was on the DAZN platform, they gave it to Kambosos because they knew what I was going to do with it. They knew what I was going to do. I was going to drop him, then it was a longer process for Devin Haney to become quote, unquote undisputed. It’s all a game, they pay that shit.”
DOESN’T QUITE ADD UP
Most will view this as the wailing of a sore loser mainly because Lopez legitimately lost on points in a fight that he employed very little strategy. This notion of Kambosos versus Haney being the real endgame also makes little sense. That is because once Kambosos had the titles in his hands, he attempted everything in his power to face Vasiliy Lomachenko.
In fact, it didn’t matter that Loma had returned to his native Ukraine to aid in the defense of a Russian invasion. Once Lomachenko refused to leave the battlefield however, Ferocious was more or less forced into the bout with Haney. This is why it’s hard to believe that there was some grand conspiracy in play last November when Lopez and Kambosos initially clashed. It will be interesting to see if Take Over persists with this talk of backroom manipulation or if this accusation will be just another flashy statement uttered once and abandoned.
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By: Bakari Simpson
