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WBO 140-pound champion Teofimo Lopez says he is in negotiations to fight an upcoming unification bout against IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins.
Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) will then 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 wins against Ennis, he will face the winner of Garcia-Haney 2 in February 2026 in Riyadh.
López-Hitchins Unification
Lopez won’t say if he has to win the Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) unification fight as a condition of facing Boots Ennis in October. However, Turki Al-Sheikh will likely still allow Teofimo to fight Ennis in October even if Richardson beats him because he is okay with fighters backing off into big fights after losses.
What could be a problem is that if Teofimo is defeated by Hitchins in a humiliating defeat, that will ruin a fight between him and Boots in October. There is an excellent chance that Hitchins overpowers Teofimo and makes him look worse than George Kambosos Jr, Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz did. Will Turki still want to use Teo in October to throw him in the ring with Boots Ennis?
That would be the equivalent of rewarding defeat. Lopez has looked terrible in his last two fights against journeyman Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz, with seven losses. Fans overwhelmingly think Lopez had a decision against Jamaine, and the same in his fight against Sandor Martín.
“I hope to have a very productive year. “We have a three-fight agreement that has not yet been revealed, but we hope to announce it very soon,” Teófimo López told Fight Hub TV about his signing with Turki Al-Sheikh.
“Yes, that’s what it looks like, yes,” Teofimo said when told that Turki told him he will fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October, and then if he emerges victorious. He will face the winner of the fight Ryan García vs. Devin Haney 2 in February 2026. “Yes, we are waiting for it. It’s about the best fighting the best and we are here to be strong.
“The only thing now is for us to win our next fights, that’s all. That’s the closest we’ve been until then,” Lopez said when asked how close he is to making the fight with Boots Ennis. “At 140 and then we went to 147. We’re talking right now with (IBF light welterweight champion) Richardson Hitchins. “We are going to unify.”
I don’t see Lopez’s three-fight deal with Al-Sheikh ending well. Teo will make a lot of money, but will probably lose to Richardson next and look like a friend thrown to a hungry shark in October when he faces IBF welterweight champion Boots Ennis.
Turki plans to have the losers of the October card meet in February in what would be a consolation fight in Riyadh. We will probably see Teofimo facing off against Haney, with both of their careers hanging in the balance.
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,” Teófimo said. “Yes, we (Hitchins and Teo) know each other. Yes, we are expecting big 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 are doing everything right now. That’s the goal. Getting everything done and finalized. My legal team is doing a great job and that’s it.”
In the same way that Richardson Hitchins dominated IBF 140-pound champion Liam Paro last month, on December 7 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he will defeat Teofimo and expose him as a failed 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 victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020, and it hasn’t been the same since.
