By Dan Ambrose: Devin Haney’s dad/trainer Bill Haney was impressed with Teofimo Lopez’s performance last Saturday against Sandor Martin on ESPN.
Bill liked what he saw of Teofimo, who squeaked out a contested 10 round split decision over Martin (40-3, 13 KOs) in a fight that many boxing fans saw Teo losing.
Teofimo looked as bad as he did in his loss to George Kambosos Jr, and he was questioning whether he still had it after the contest.
Speaking incoherently and appearing to nod off at times during a rambling interview on Monday, Bill Haney said he’s not forgetting about Teofimo (18-1, 13 KOs), and he wants to put a fight together with him after Dev’s fight with Loma.
Haney might be better off staying at 135 and facing the winner of the April 15th fight between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Ryan Garcia. That’s the better fight.
Teo looked terrible in his controversial 10 round split decision win over Sandor Martin last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It’s fair to say that Teofimo may lose his next fight against the winner of the Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall rematch. With how Teofimo fought against Martin, he’s not going to beat either one of those guys.
If Bill has his eyes open and he’s actively engaged, he should take a close look at how poor Teofimo looked against Sandor because it’s obvious that his career is on the verge of going belly up.
Given how Teofimo looked against Martin, Haney might not get to him in time before he gets beaten again.
A better move for Haney would be to stay at 135 a little longer so he can fight Shakur Stevenson and the winner of the Tank vs. Ryan fight. Forget about Teofimo because it’s a waste of time for Haney to go in that direction.
“Teofimo Lopez had a tough fight against Sandor Martin. He can fight, and he showed that on Saturday night,” said Bill Haney to Fighthype. “I got a chance to see Sandor Martin first with Mikey Garcia.
“I was surprised then, and I was surprised now. Anytime you can talk about a fighter that can get his nose broken by a headbutt or a punch and not only have the resiliency to get back at it, but also have his dad in his corner, and his dad did a wonderful job with it. his broken nose.
“When I heard that and learned that his dad was his coach & trainer. For him to fly that ship as he did and get that acclaim after. Shout out to Sandor, his family, and his team. They did an excellent job.
“I also commend the Lopez’s for doing a great job. With that said, Teofimo Lopez had Sandor Martin on the ropes, and he was backing up. When you see the fighters, and they’re backing up, they’re backing up for a reason.
“I saw power in Teofimo Lopez go up from 135 up to 140. Now, there are a lot of things play against Teofimo Lopez like they play against all of the fighters. Devin has been described and said that he couldn’t do lot of things and a lot of challenges.
“The challenges from this side of the table know that they were made up and fabricated. So I say to Lopez junior and senior, but more to senior because he handled business.
“I won’t be deterred. I know this is a whole bamboozled, a booby trap that you guys are doing. You guys are a great team. Lopez is a great young fighter. We know this is the top tippy top of the world, especially the lightweight division.
“I will not let the media nor Teofimo Lopez’s fans to get me off track that we don’t do anything after Devin handles his business with Vasyl Lomachenko. It’s not about the belts. It’s not about the money. It’s not about none of that.
“It’s about everything you and your daddy and your son said. You’re going to have to stand on it. Guess what? Ain’t none of the fans getting in the way.
“Top Rank, a Hall of Fame promotional outfit. I came over and had a discussion. Do you remember the infamous Teofimo Lopez? What happened to the meeting with Bob [Arum]? Ain’t no ‘what happened to the meeting?’ We’re over here.
“We’re about to discuss the future fight [between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez] with Bob. With you, Mr. Lopez, both senior and junior, Bob, and the rest of the Top Rank team,” said Bill.
