Will Teofimo Lopez vs Devin Haney Happen at 140?
The last time that WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo “Takeover” Lopez (19-1, 13 KO’s) competed, he took on Josh Taylor. In that outing, Lopez made picking up the unanimous decision win look easy. Sadly, following the match, Takeover announced that he was retiring. Despite this, his manager, David McWater, has stated that Lopez will return to the ring in February. While there is no name attached, Team Lopez has an invested interest in facing former undisputed champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (30-0, 15 KO’s).
“[Lopez returns in] February . . . Teo only wants to fight the best, so you got [Gervonta] Davis, you got [Ryan] Garcia, you got [Devin] Haney. I think those are the big names . . . Devin certainly makes more sense to us as an opponent, so in that aspect I’ll be rooting for him.”
FIGHTING OR SELLING DREAMS?
Of all the options that McWater presented, Lopez has the most traction with former undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney. The two have gone to war via social media more times than Dominic Toretto has said the word ‘family.’ Even though they were not able to square off at lightweight, Haney versus Lopez remains a very high profile and exciting duel.
First however, The Dream must get past a stiff challenge in the form of WBC 140-pound champion Regis Prograis on December 9. This is far from a guarantee. Provided that Haney does walk away with Prograis’s hardware, then this only intensifies a potential showdown between The Dream and Takeover. So rather than brawl for undisputed at 135, they can unify with one another at 140.
Given their history, skill and true disdain for one another, this is one fantastic prizefight. So let’s see what happens on December 9 and what Team Lopez will have in the way of a formal fight announcement.
