Devin Haney vs Teofimo Lopez negotiations collapse amid ‘duck’ claim

Devin Haney's fight against Teofimo Lopez for August 16 has been officially called off due to failed negotiations, with Haney alleging Lopez is avoiding the matchup. This development may influence betting odds, leading punters to reconsider Haney’s chances in future fights, especially against other contenders, while Lopez's reputation may take a hit.

Just hours after the fight between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez was unofficially announced, it has been called off due to the parties’ inability to come to an agreement.

The news broke on X through The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, who said: “Negotiations have collapsed for a proposed fight between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez on Aug. 16 in Riyadh, [The Ring] has learned. Haney and Teofimo both scored wide-decision wins on May 2 in Times Square.”

Originally, the plan was for Haney to have a rematch with Ryan Garcia, provided they were both victorious on the Times Square card on 2 May, where Garcia fought Rolly Romero and Haney took on Jose Ramirez.

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Haney held up his end of the bargain, outpointing Ramirez, but Garcia suffered a shock defeat by Romero, which put an indefinite hold on the fight.

Lopez also fought on the card, comfortably beating Arnold Barboza Jr on points to retain his WBO strap and was eyeing up a move up in weight for his next fight. This culminated in rumours of a fight being made between Lopez and Haney on 16 August, the same day as Gervonta “Tank” Davis’s rematch with Lamont Roach, at a catchweight of 145lb.

But as quickly as the fight was announced, it was called off. Haney confirmed the collapse on X, saying it was signed on his end but that Lopez decided not to take the fight. Haney went on to claim that the WBO super-lightweight champion was avoiding him.

Haney said on X: “The fight with Teo is not signed! I signed my part and Teo has been stalling. As of today, he does not want to fight me and he is officially the biggest [duck].”

He added in a separate post: “I wanted the fight at 147. He wanted the fight at 140. We negotiated to meet at 145, even though he was willing to fight boots [Jaron Ennis] at 147."

Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney had a fight unofficially announced yesterday, but these rumours were dispelled this morning by Haney who claims Lopez is avoiding him.

The Independent