IBF, WBC Franchise, WBO, WBA lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez is guaranteeing that a showdown with Devin Haney, who holds the WBC’s full title at 135-pounds, will go down in the near future.
There is growing tension between the two boxers, because the World Boxing Council is refusing to end the debate over which of them is the real WBC champion.
Haney has been furious with the confusion being created by having two WBC titles in the lightweight division.
Lopez captured the WBC’s Franchise crown last year, with a twelve round unanimous decision over former three division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The first order of business for Lopez is a showdown with the IBF’s mandatory challenger, which is undefeated George Kambosos.
Kambosos became the mandatory last year when he decisioned former world champion Lee Selby in a final eliminator.
Should everything go well in that contest, Lopez is planning to press for a clash with Haney to settle their ‘WBC champion’ dispute.
Haney’s trash talking has irritated Lopez, who wants to end their verbal sparring by getting in the ring.
“He needs to step up his game and talking. It’s horrible, it’s bad, it’s really bad,” said Lopez to Sky Sports.
“They need to work on that. I think that with Devin, he has a lot of things where it has to be scripted. It just can’t come out. The same way we helped Loma out in the process, we’re going to help Devin Haney out in the process as well.
“We’re going to make the fight happen. I tried to save his career. I did. I kid you not. I tried to protect his career. I told him, ‘Hey three to five years, work your way up.’ But now, he’s got out of hand, and it got me going now, so we’re going to start pressing him on it. Me and my father, we’re on the same page. I believe Devin Haney will be next.”