Eddie Hearn is shutting down any talk of Teofimo Lopez bypassing Jack Catterall. In Hearn’s view, the WBA already granted its single pass, meaning Catterall is next in line for the 147-pound belt without debate.
Hearn points directly to the sanctioning body’s written agreement that cleared Lopez to challenge Rolando Romero. Under those terms, the victor was obligated to face Catterall without delay.
“They allowed the fight between Rolly Romero against Teofimo Lopez on the condition that the winner must fight Jack Catterall immediately,” Hearn told reporters. “That is what is happening now.”
The promoter insists that binding document cannot simply be swept aside whenever a more lucrative commercial offer surfaces.
“It’s not on some flaky text message. It’s legally binding, and that is what will be happening next,” Hearn said. “There will be no way out, and we will make sure he gets it.”
Hearn also noted that Devin Haney and DAZN explored matching Catterall, yet the contender refused to be diverted from his title tilt.
“You could not pay me any amount of money in the world to not get my shot at the WBA Super Championship against Teofimo Lopez,” Hearn said Catterall told him.
That stance shuts the door on any voluntary step-aside deal. Catterall intends to collect on the title chance he was guaranteed instead of taking step-aside cash so Lopez can eye mega-events. Hearn scoffed at Lopez chasing a clash with Ryan Garcia, urging the champion to stop stalling and take on his mandatory.
Sanctioning bodies often rewrite their own playbooks, yet Hearn is putting heavy pressure on the WBA to follow through. Handing Lopez another pass with an empty promise for later would simply recycle the delay Hearn says was permanently settled.
“Ryan Garcia has come out now saying he’s fighting Floyd Mayweather. So stop running around. Just fight your mandatory,” Hearn said.
Hearn is trying to box Teofimo into a corner with that quote, using the Garcia circus to strip away his biggest public distraction. The reality is that Teofimo would rather twiddle his thumbs waiting for the Garcia-Mayweather spectacle to conclude than hand Hearn an easy win by taking Catterall.
Catterall brings almost zero global pay-per-view leverage, an ugly stylistic headache, and massive risk for minimal return.
Telling a fighter who wants bank-vault paydays to “stop running around” sounds great in a press soundbite, but it rarely forces the issue. If the WBA actually attempts to enforce the order with purse bids, Teofimo is far more likely to toss the belt in a trash can and let Hearn have his vacant title match while he waits for another mega-money opportunity to open up.
