WBO 140-pound champion Teofimo Lopez says he is in negotiations for his next unification bout against IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchens.
Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) will next move up to 147 and challenge IBF welterweight champion Jaron 'Boots' Ennis in October on the Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If Lopez defeats Enes, he will face the winner of Garcia-Haney 2 in February 2026 in Riyadh.
Lopez-Hitchens unification
Lopez has not said whether he has to win the unification fight for Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) as a condition for him to face Boots Ennis in October. However, it is possible that Turki Al-Sheikh will allow Teofimo to face Ennis in October, even if Richardson defeats him because he does not accept the return of fighters to big fights on the back of defeats.
What could be a problem is that if Hitchens defeats Teofimo in a humiliating defeat, it will distort the fight between him and Potts in October. There's an excellent chance that Hitchens will dominate Teofimo and make him look worse than both Jorge Kambosos Jr., Sandor Martin, and Jamaine Ortiz. Will Turk still want to use Teo for October to throw him in the ring with Boots Ennis?
That would be equivalent to rewarding defeat. Lopez has looked terrible in his last two fights against seven-fighter Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz. Fans overwhelmingly believe it was Lopez who was awarded a decision over Jammin, and the same goes for his fight against Sandor Martin.
“I am looking forward to a very productive year. We have a three-way deal that has not been revealed yet, but we look forward to announcing it very soon,” said Teofimo Lopez. Combat Center TV Regarding his signing with Turki Al-Sheikh.
“Yeah, that's what it's like, yeah,” Teofimo said when told he heard from Turk that he would fight Jaron “Boots” Ennis in October, and then later if he wins. He will face the winner of Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2 in February 2026. “Yes, we are looking forward to it. It's all about the best fighting the best, and we're here to be strong.
“The only thing now is to win our next fights, that's all. This is as close as we can get until then,” Lopez said when asked how close he was to fighting Boots Ennis. “At 140 and then we get to 147. We're talking now.” With Richardson Hitchens (IBF Welterweight Champion). We will unite.”
I don't see Lopez's three-way deal with Al-Sheikh ending well. Teo will make a lot of money but will likely lose to Richardson next and look like a friend thrown to a hungry shark in October, when he faces IBF welterweight champion Boots Ennis.
Turki plans to meet the losers of the October card in February in what could be a consolation fight in Riyadh. It's possible we'll see Teofimo take on Haney, as their careers are on thin ice.
Road to 147
“So, two world title fights (Hitchens and Ennis) and then the prize fight came together. So, we got a good plan,” said Teofimo. “Yes, we (Hitchens and Theo) know each other. Yes, we are looking forward to great things now. Stay tuned. “Very soon,” Lopez said when asked when he would fight Hitchens. That's the beauty of it. We're getting it all done now. This is the goal. Get everything done and finalized. My legal team does a great job, and that's about it.
The way Richardson Hitchens dominated IBF 140-pound champion Liam Barrow last month on December 7 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will defeat Teofimo and expose him as a washed-up fighter. Lopez has looked over the hill since his loss to Kambosos Jr. in 2021, and has continued to look bad in repeated performances over the past four years. T'eo took a lot of punishment in his win over Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020, and nothing has been the same since.
