Teofimo Lopez Fires At Gervonta Davis Over Rehydration Clauses!
Newly crowned WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) claims that he’s hung up the gloves. But that hasn’t stopped those in the boxing community from contemplating his future and pondering about fights with contemporaries such as reigning WBA Regular lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (29-0, 27 KOs).
Lopez was in attendance for the second leg of the Errol Spence Jr – Terence Crawford press tour in New York City. When Lopez was asked by the boxing press if he would come out of retirement for a fight with Davis, Lopez said the following:
“Let’s say I sign a contract with Tank, and we face each other. They’ll find a way to postpone the fight and keep postponing the fighting, having me wait my time.”
MAKING HIS FEELINGS KNOWN
Davis has a history of forcing his opponents to agree to a rehydration clause. It was part of the contract negotiations for his stoppage win over Ryan Garcia in April 2023. Former WBA Regular junior welterweight champion Mario Barrios claimed that he had to agree to a similar clause prior to fighting Davis in June 2021. When Lopez was asked about Davis’s prefight demands, The Takeover said that’s a sign of weakness on the part of Tank.
“That’s a pussy move. Gervonta, you are a bitch. I don’t care what anybody says. You can be all that rah-rah, thug life and scream . . . with your dick-sucking lips, get out of here.”
Boxing fans have opined about a matchup between Lopez and Davis for several years on boxing message boards. The two men have a history, going back to when both were amateurs. While they’ve talked about fighting one another at some point as professionals, for one reason or another, it has not happened.
Many fans are skeptical of Lopez’s retirement. They think that while he says he’s done, he would not hesitate to return to the ring if the money was right.
Coming off defeating Josh Taylor to win the WBO title on June 10, Lopez’s star is brighter than ever. Davis is currently in a Baltimore, Maryland jail for violating the terms of an order of a ninety-day house arrest. But Tank is a bona fide pay-per-view attraction and one of the high-profile fighters in the sport. A matchup between the two at 140 in 2024 would definitely be a big-money fight and entice Lopez to put on the gloves one more time.
