Devin Haney is angry that Teofimo Lopez seems to have changed his mind about sticking around at 135 to face him next.
After shaking on it with Bill Haney for a fight with WBC lightweight champion Devin (26-0, 15 KOs) next, Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) and his dad are talking about making a move up to challenge undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor next in early 2022.
Haney seems to have been forgotten about now by Teofimo in favor of the unbeaten Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs), who would be an easier fight to make for Teo.
Taylor and Teofimo are with Top Rank and fight on the same network platform at ESPN, so it’s a no-brainer.
Additionally, Teofimo has outgrown the 135-lb division, and he’s putting his body through the wringer each time he has to make weight.
Teofimo has been out of the ring for over a year since his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko in October 2020. It will be difficult for him to make weight for this Saturday’s title defense against George Kambosos Jr. for their battle on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I don’t know, there’s something different about [Teofimo] Lopez for this fight,” said Haney to Fighthype when asked about a prediction on Teofimo’s title defense against George Kambosos on Saturday night.
“I don’t see the same type of focus for this fight. I think he’s having weight issues or something like that. I could be wrong, we got to wait and see, and I just see something different.
“Yeah, he and my dad shook on it, and he said I’m going to be the next guy. I’m going to be next,” said Haney when asked if he’d be willing to fight Teofimo at 140.
“All of a sudden, he’s [Teofimo] saying he wants to fight Josh Taylor. He’s swearing he’s going to fight Josh Taylor next. He and his dad make up s*** as they go along. They say something in this interview and something in that interview,” said Haney.
It’s still premature for Haney to be talking about a fight with Teofimo because he’s got a really tough title defense next month against Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. on December 4th on DAZN in Las Vegas.
Nobody knows who will win the Haney vs. Diaz Jr., as Devin looked poor in his last fight against Jorge Linares in May. But if Haney does beat JoJo Diaz, and that’s a big IF, it’ll be interesting to see whether Teofimo and his dad follow through to try and make that fight.
“I know you don’t believe these lies. You listen to him, and you’re like, ‘He’s full of s***. Yeah, he’s f**** nuts. The dude is crazy,”
said Haney when told that he wants to do the fight in February.
“He literally makes up lies as he goes, and you’re all over the place listening to what they [Teofimo and his dad Teo Sr] say.
“As of this year, no one has fought tougher opposition [than me],” said Haney. “Teofimo, he’s running from Lomachenko. He hasn’t fought in a whole year, and he keeps talking about what he did to Lomachenko.
“I can’t take nothing away from him, and he won the fight fair and square. But I’m taking former world champion after former world champion, and these guys just aren’t doing it.
“Me and my team are going to put together a great game plan for him [Teofimo], but he remembers what happened in that sparring. That’s all I got to say,” said Haney when asked how a fight between him and Teofimo would take place.
“I damn near wish I hadn’t sparred him because I feel the fight would have been made already if we never sparred,” said Haney.