Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
WBO 140lb champion Teofimo Lopez says he is in negotiations to fight a unification match against IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins.
Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) will 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 is victorious against Ennis, he will face the winner of Garcia-Haney 2 in February 2026 in Riyadh.
López-Hitchins unification
Lopez wouldn’t say if 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, Turki Al-Sheikh is still likely to allow Teofimo to face Ennis in October even if Richardson wins as he agrees with fighters building on big fights after losses .
What could be a problem is that if Teofimo is sent off by Hitchins in a humiliating defeat, it will taint a fight between him and Boots in October. There is an excellent chance that Hitchins will dominate Teofimo and make him look worse than George Kambosos Jr, Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz. Will Turki still want to use Teo for October to throw him in the ring with Boots Ennis?
That would be the equivalent of rewarding defeat. Lopez looked terrible in his last two fights against seven-loss official Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz. Fans overwhelmingly believe that Lopez had a decision against Jamaine, and the same goes for his fight against Sandor Martin.
“I’m looking forward to a very productive year. We have a three-fight deal that hasn’t been revealed yet, but we hope to announce it very soon,” Teofimo López told Fight Hub TV about him signing with Turki Al-Sheikh.
“Yeah, that’s what it looks like, yeah,” Teofimo said when told that Turki told him he’ll fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October, and then if he wins. will face the winner of the Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2 fight in February 2026. “Yes, we are looking forward to it. It’s about the best fighting the best, and we’re here to be strong.
“The only thing now is that we win our next fights, that’s all. That’s as close as we can get until then,” Lopez said when asked how close he is to fighting Boots Ennis. “At 140 and then we’re going to 147. We’re talking right now with (light welterweight champion of the IBF) Richardson Hitchins. Let’s unify.”
I don’t see Lopez’s three-fight deal with Al-Sheikh ending well. Teo will make a ton of money but will likely lose to Richardson and look like a fellow thrown to a hungry shark in October when he faces IBF welterweight champion Boots Ennis.
Turki plans for the losers of the October card to meet in February in what would be a consolation fight in Riyadh. We’ll probably see Teofimo take on Haney, with both of his runs on thin ice.
The road to 147
“So two world title fights lined up (Hitchins and Ennis) and then the prize fight. So we have a good plan,” said Teofimo. “Yes, we (Hitchins and Teo) know each other. Yes, we expect great things right now. Stay tuned. Very soon,” Lopez said when asked when his fight with Hitchins will take place. That’s the beauty of it. We’re doing everything right now. That’s the goal. Getting it all done. My legal team he’s doing a great job, and that’s all.”
The way Richardson Hitchins dominated IBF 140-pound champion Liam Paro last month, on December 7 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he will beat Teofimo and expose him as an undiscovered 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. Teo took a lot of punishment in his win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020, and he hasn’t been the same since.
