Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez will not fight his rival Devin Haney after all. Instead, the unbeaten champion has found a new opponent and has had to put the Haney fight on hold. He has also explained why this decision came about.

Lopez and Haney have been going at it ever since the former beat Vasyl Lomachenko. Moreover, rumors suggested that the fight was close for the end of April. However, it now appears it will not happen.

Cameron Wolfe of ESPN was the first to report the news that Lopez will now most likely take on George Kambosos Jr. ‘Ferocious’ is the IBF mandatory and was in the mix previously before the Haney rumors. Kambosos Jr earned the fight by beating Lee Selby to become mandatory.

Haney holds the only lightweight belt that ‘The Takeover’ does not have. Thus, Lopez was torn between fighting the two. However, he now seems to have come to his decision.

Moreover, the initial reports suggested that if the fight against Kambosos Jr went ahead, it would be in Australia. However, it now appears the bout will take place in the USA. 

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Why did Teofimo Lopez pick George Kambosos over Devin Haney?

The undefeated American explained his decision to pick the Australian. Despite his desire to shut down Devin Haney, Lopez suggested he valued the work of Kambosos Jr to get to the top of the challengers.

“I have to pay my respect to that guy. He fought his way up, the same way I had to fight my way up to be IBF lightweight world champion before I got to the point where I fought Vasiliy Lomachenko,” said Lopez.

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He then addressed the criticisms of him ducking Haney and said he is just following the process. However, he confirmed that if anything goes wrong with the negotiations, ‘The Dream’ would be next in line to face him.

Therefore, we now know why Kambosos Jr is the next in line to face Lopez. However, we’re not sure it will go down well with the lightweight division or fans of the sport.

What do you make of this news? Do you think Teofimo Lopez is justified in giving Kambosos Jr a shot at the title, or do you think he’s avoiding Haney?

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