October in Riyadh: Ennis vs. Teofimo, Ryan vs. Haney 2! The Turki tournament final is scheduled for February

Turki Al-Sheikh revealed on X tonight his plans for a mini-tournament where Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will fight Teofimo Lopez on the Ryan Garcia vs. card. Devin Haney 2 in October in Riyadh. The winners of these two fights will face off in February, and the losers will be on the same card.

Turki tournament

Turki says he still needs to talk to Matchroom, Golden Boy Promotions and PBC to let them know his plans to use his fighters.

It’s tough for Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) to move up to 147 pounds to face what many fans believe is the king of the welterweight division, IBF champion Jaron Ennis.

When the smoke clears, these are the likely fights we’ll see in February.

• Jaron Ennis vs Ryan Garcia – *Winners Park
• Devin Haney vs. Teofimo López – Losers’ Consolation

Lopez’s punching power gives him an excellent chance to beat Haney. At 147, Ennis would likely be too big, too strong and too experienced for Ryan.

Of course, Teofimo wants to fight Ennis because it gives him a big payday and a chance to prove himself against an elite fighter. As long as Teo is competitive in a losing effort, his stock will rise because he’s stuck at 140 right now, languishing in a dead division and fighting no-name opposition.

When you look at the matchups, it’s an ideal situation for IBF welterweight champion Boots Ennis because he has an excellent opportunity to be the last man standing. He would be a heavy favorite to defeat Teofimo in October and then defeat the winner of Garcia vs Haney 2. Ennis would have the size and experience advantage at 147 against any of the fighters in Turki’s proposed mini-tournament.

Ryan will fight Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in May, and Haney fights Jose Ramirez on the same card in Times Square in New York. None of these fights are game for Ryan and Haney, but he doesn’t seem to like it, it doesn’t matter if they lose. Turki isn’t saying anything about Cruz or Ramirez getting a chance to fight on his October card, but you’d have to believe he’d use them at some point down the line at one of his events.

Turki’s vision

it’s easy… fight in May and then the big rematch in October and on the same card we’ll try Teo vs. BOOTS, then winner vs. winner and loser vs. loser in February… need to discuss with our partners top rank and match room and goldenboy and PBC 🥊🔥

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) January 18, 2025