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Teofimo Lopez held the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, and The Ring lightweight belts from October 2020 until November 2021. He lost his titles to George Kambosos Jr. in New York.
Lopez posted on Twitter today (May 16), speaking about the upcoming bout between Kambosos and Devin Haney. The winner of the bout will be the Undisputed Lightweight Champion, as Haney currently holds the WBC Lightweight Title. Though the context of the tweet is unclear, Lopez said:
"They just said we’ll make everyone else Undisputed at this point to defeat the purpose lol Just remember I brought that trend back.’ #TheTakeoverTakeover"
Lopez, who has a record of 17-1, has never been the undisputed champ. He claimed the IBF title from Richard Commey in 2019 and then the WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring titles from Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020. Haney has held the WBC belt since 2019, meaning that he held claim to the title of Lightweight Champion of the world at the same time as Lopez.
The fight between Lopez and Kambosos was the new champion's first title defense. It was expected to be an easy win for 'The Takeover'. He went into the fight off an impressive performance over Lomachenko, who was deemed near-unbeatable in the division prior to the bout.
However, Kambosos, of Australia, far-exceeded expectations and gave Lopez the toughest fight of his career, eventually winning by split decision.
Check out the highlights of Lopez vs. Kambosos here:
Teofimo Lopez since losing to George Kambosos Jr.
Teofimo Lopez, 'The Takeover', has just one loss on his record - that to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021. Lopez is likely to pursue a fight with the winner of Kambosos vs. Haney. However, it has also been suggested that he may move up to the super lightweight division.
Since his loss, Teofimo Lopez has yet to get back into the ring, though he maintains a presence on social media. Just two days ago, he posted a shopping cart in reference to the WBA's decision to strip Josh Taylor of his Super Lightweight belt. The decision ends Taylor's claim to the title of Undisputed Champion at super lightweight.
Rather than attempting to unify his own division, it is possible that Teofimo Lopez is eyeing Taylor's belts. He may sit more comfortably in a higher weight class. However, the decision to move up would likely be viewed as an attempt to avoid a hard rematch with Kambosos.
