By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Current World Boxing Organization (WBO) light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez just challenged Ryan Garcia to a catchweight fight confirmed last April 30, 2024.
After Garcia’s stunning victory over Devin Haney several weeks ago, Lopez expressed his desire to fight Garcia, only if it would be under a catchweight bout above 140 pounds.
According to multiple boxing reports, Lopez already told Top Rank Promotions to arrange the fight against Garcia, but CEO Bob Arum and the rest of the management have yet to present their proposals.
“I talked to Top Rank about how I wanted this to be planned out. We said something to Ryan Garcia and his team that we can do something in September or December,” Lopez said on the Punsh Drunk YouTube channel.
Lopez is currently on a hot streak after winning all of his four past matches against Jamaine Ortiz, Josh Taylor, Sandor Martin, and Pedro Campa.
Seeking a bigger opponent to boost his market, Lopez thought that Garcia would be the best opponent for him since Haney already rejected his proposal several months ago.
However, Garcia’s camp is yet to respond as they are still on vacation celebrating their emphatic win over Haney.
After his win against Haney, several talks of a match between him and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz already circulated.
Aside from the Cruz fight, several promoters are also gunning for his rematch against Gervonta “Tank” Davis which can happen later this year if both fighters agree to the terms and clauses of the contract.
