Boxing

Teofimo Lopez Gets Candid About Manny Pacquiao Prediction, Devin Haney Fight Failure

Top boxer Teofimo Lopez sent strong messages about Manny Pacquiao fighting and his Devin Haney bout falling through.
Grant Young|
Teofimo Lopez, WBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight champion, speaks on February 2, 2024.
Teofimo Lopez, WBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight champion, speaks on February 2, 2024. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Regardless of whether he has a fight on the books, WBO and The Ring junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez always finds a way to keep his name in headlines. While a lot of this attention-getting ability is due to negative things (like some of his unhinged social media rants), even Lopez's biggest haters have to respect the true boxing talent he possesses.

Lopez made news earlier this month after his rumored August 16 fight against Devin Haney fell through, seemingly because Lopez is unstable mentally. This was conveyed by his co-manager, Keith Connolly, who said:

“We want to thank His Excellency for the opportunity and everything he has done for Teo. 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."

However, Lopez expressed a different sentiment when asked why this Haney fight fell through during a June 14 interview with K.O. Artist Sports.

"No fault at all. It's just disagreements at things that didn't come through with His Excellency," Lopez said when asked why the Haney fight fell through. "There were things that we filed, and that we signed prior to the fights. And just didn't come to that fruition when it came to the night of it."

Lopez was also asked about Manny Pacquiao returning to the ring against Mario Barrios on July 19 and shared a strong message.

"It's great to have Pacquiao back... I think people are going to tune in, because it's Pacquiao. It's Manny Pacquiao. He's a legend, he has paved the way for the sport. He's still fighting at this time, at this age. And it's all about how he looks against Barrios. It's a great money fight for him, but at the same time, it's great for the sport because it keeps us in the loop," Lopez said.

"God willing, we see him conquer another division or another world title once again," he concluded on Pacquiao.

Credit to Lopez for staying level-headed during this interview.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.