Negotiations between Vasily Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez are said to be progressing towards a possible deal for their October 3 fight on ESPN.
Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) told his followers earlier on Thursday that the Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) will be happening. He said it’s just going to take a little while longer for it to take place.
After a couple of days of bad news, today, we finally have some real stuff on Lomacheck and Tefoimo, which is excellent for the fans.
Progress being made on Lomachenko-Lopez fight
According to Mike Coppinger, “progress is being made towards a deal” between Loma and Lopez. WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Lomachenko has already agreed to a deal that is more than $3.25 million.
We’re just waiting on Top Rank and ESPN to sweeten the $1.2 million offer that Teofimo was given, which he’s not happy with right now.
It appears that Top Rank already has a plan-B to match against Lomachenko on October 3 if they can’t get Teofimo to agree to the fight. Fringe lightweight contender Felix Verdejo is the backup option to face Loma if Lopez fails to sign, according to Dan Rafael of Ring TV.
Lomachenko vs. Verdejo would be a rematch of their 2012 Olympic quarterfinal that Loma won. Verdejo, 27, has wanted a rematch all these years, and now he’s in a position to get his way if Teofimo backs out of the October 3 fight.
“The fight is going to happen. Stuff like this sometimes takes a little longer to happen and that’s why it’s called “negotiating” for a reason. Dumb a****,” said Teofimo on Twitter
Teofimo optimistic
As you can tell, Teofimo is optimistic about putting the fight together with Lomachenko. Teofimo needs this fight because he could be moving up to 140 soon.
If he doesn’t get the Lomachenko match, he’ll have to settle for a smaller payday against one of the contenders.
Top Rank wants to make the Lomachenko vs. Lopez fight happen, but at least they have a decent backup in case things don’t pan out. Verdejo (27-1, 17 KOs) is a fighter that was heavily hyped from 2012 to 2017, and a lot of boxing fans thought he would be the next superstar.
Some even compared him to Puerto Rican excellent Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad, but they were wrong.
Verdejo lost in 2018 to Antonio Lozada Torres by a 10th round knockout, but he’s looked a lot better recently in winning four consecutive matches. Top Rank needs to do something with Verdejo, and this would be the perfect opportunity.
Boxing fans would get excited as the thought of seeing Lomachenko and Verdejo go at it, and it would make for an exciting match while it lasts.