Teofimo Lopez vs Devin Haney reportedly in talks

The fight would mark Teofimo Lopez’s third defense of his super lightweight title

Forbes’ Brian Mazique claims that Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney are “negotiating” a 2025 title fight that would headline a “massive” card on ESPN.

Though Haney’s (31-0, 15 KO) WBC super lightweight title wasn’t on the line for his loss to an overweight Ryan Garcia, this won’t be a unification bout, as Haney successfully petitioned the WBC to name him “champion in recess” rather than force a mandatory defense against Sandor Martin. Martin will instead face newly elevated champion Alberto Puello sometime in the near future; the pair intended to meet on PBC’s December 14th Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr show, which remains in scheduling limbo.

It’s still a big fight on paper, albeit less so than before. Though he was unambiguously wronged, Haney’s response to the Garcia loss has been off-putting at best and Lopez (21-1, 13 KO) has peppered a series of underwhelming performances with idiotic comments. I dread the press conferences if this gets over the finish line.

That’s still a sizable “if” at the moment. The WBO claims they’ll appoint a mandatory challenger soon, most likely either Jack Catterall or the winner of Jose Ramirez vs Arnold Barboza Jr this coming Saturday. Lopez is overdue for a mandatory defense and secondary titles don’t qualify for the unification exemption.