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Devin Haney is concerned about the mental welfare of on-and-off rival Teofimo Lopez.
Haney, the Las Vegas-based WBC lightweight titleholder, responded to recent remarks made by Lopez in which the Brooklyn native claimed that his loss to George Kambosos in their lightweight title unification bout (WBO, WBA, IBF) last November was a result of a “scheme” concocted by the platform DAZN, which streamed the bout. In Lopez’s view, DAZN preferred that Kambosos won so that it could line up a title unification with Haney, who holds the WBC lightweight title and who has been featured on the app in multiple main events.
The problem with that theory, of course, besides its obviously spurious premises, is that while Haney has preferred to work with Hearn and DAZN, he has technically been a free agent since before the Lopez-Kambosos bout. Moreover, while it is also true that Haney will be facing Kambosos June 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, in a full lightweight unification bout, it will not be shown by DAZN – rather ESPN will be broadcasting it, as the networks’ boxing content provider, Top Rank Inc., is now the promoter of Haney for the foreseeable future.
Haney, 23, could not help but express a mixture of sympathy and confusion toward Lopez’s comments.
“He can say what he wants to say,” Haney told FightHype.com not long after it was reported that his fight with Kambosos was a done deal. “I told you guys that he was delusional before and it’s starting to show. Something’s wrong. He might need to get some help or something. I’m worried about him. For real.”
Haney and Lopez have had their fair share of verbal tussles in the past couple of years. Most notably the two had a heated confrontation in front of a throng of press members after the conclusion of the Mikey Garcia-Sandor Martin main event bout last October at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California.
Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) suggested that Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) needed to accept his defeat to Kambosos (20-0, 10KOs) in order to “get better” as a fighter. Lopez, who reportedly suffered a life-threatening medical condition after that bout, has said he will no longer campaign at lightweight and instead move up to 140 pounds. Lopez is reportedly returning to the ring by the end of the summer, possibly against Arnold Barboza Jr.
“I truly think that something is wrong,” Haney said of Lopez. “He said something about a decision, [that] it was already made – bro, you lost.
“You gotta acknowledge that to get better, understanding that you lost to the better man that night. You keep pushing, you go back to the drawing board and you go back to the top.”