A proposed fight between WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney on Aug. 16 has fallen apart in recent days, with Lopez's management stating that Lopez will not be fighting for "personal reasons."
Initial reports suggested that the fight was set for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) was originally set to face Ryan Garcia later this year in a rematch after Haney beat Jose Ramirez in Times Square on May 2. But between Garcia losing in an upset to Rolando Romero in the main event and subsequently undergoing hand surgery, that fight was off the table. Lopez, who fought and won on the same card as Garcia and Haney, initially called for a fight with unified welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis despite being a weight class below him.
Haney refuted that Lopez (22-1) had signed the contract and cited the contracted weight as the issue.
Haney posted on X: "the fight with Teo is not signed! I signed my part & Teo has been stalling. As of today he has decided he doesn't wanna fight me he is officially the biggest [duck emoji] ... I wanted the fight at 147 [pounds] he wanted the fight at 140 we negotiated to meet at 145 even though he was willing to fight [Jaron] boots [Ennis] at 147."
Lopez was recently at odds with Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia's chairman of the general entertainment authority and Ring Magazine owner, who would be the promoter of the fight. Lopez apologized for a recent tweet barrage after directing several disparaging remarks at Alalshikh.
Keith Connolly, Lopez's co-manager, released a statement to Ring Magazine on Thursday explaining why the fight wasn't happening.
"Unfortunately, Teo won't be fighting in August for personal reasons that I will keep confidential," the statement read. "... We planned on fighting but with what was going on he wanted to make sure he was 100% right mentally and physically and August was just too quick of a turnaround. I expect Teo to be back later this year, bigger and better than ever."