Teofimo Lopez next fight: Steve Claggett bout confirmed with mega fight waiting in wings

Teofimo Lopez is one of the biggest names in boxing right now and there is much intrigue about his next steps, following his June 29 title defense against Steve Claggett.

Should ‘The Takeover’ get past Claggett unscathed, the WBO super-lightweight world champion will have a number of lucrative options at his disposal.

Lopez announced himself at the elite level with a shock shutout victory over three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko to become the WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight world champion.

However, in an even bigger shock, he lost those belts in his next fight when he dropped a split decision to Australian fighter George Kambosos Jr.

Lopez has since rebuilt his career at super-lightweight and after wins over Pedro Campa and Sandro Martin, he became a two-weight world champion by dethroning former undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor.

He has since successfully defended that belt with a win over Jamaine Ortiz and there is much intrigue over how far Lopez’s career can take him.

A number of big name fighters currently operate around the super-lightweight and lightweight divisions, and Lopez will not be short of offers. As such, we have looked at what the immediate future looks like for the 27-year-old.

Steve Claggett bout confirmed

Lopez’s next fight has been confirmed as a WBO world title defense against veteran Canadian boxer Steve Claggett in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, June 29.

Claggett has won his last nine fights but, on paper, shouldn’t pose a problem to Lopez given he has lost seven times in his 47 fight career.

The 34-year-old is ranked as the WBO’s number 10 contender and it should present a routine voluntary title defense for a fighter of Lopez’s stature.

Unification fight next?

Should he get past Claggett, Lopez has three potential routes to a unification fight at 140 pounds.

The fight which would be the biggest, and make the most financial sense, would be with WBC champion Devin Haney.

Haney has largely fought under the Matchroom Boxing promotional banner but is a free agent who has worked with Top Rank, who promote Lopez, for his win over Lomachenko for the undisputed lightweight world title in May 2023.

If Haney wanted to make a unification fight with Lopez, there is precedent to show he would be willing to do so on a Top Rank promotion.

Out of all three champions, he also remains the biggest, most lucrative name for Lopez to fight, despite his loss to Ryan Garcia in April.

Garcia has since tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine and Haney retained his world title after ‘King Ry’ missed weight.

Should a fight with Haney not materialize, he could also look to unify with the WBA champion or the IBF champion.

Isaac Cruz will defend his WBA title in August on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s fight with Israil Madrimov, and he has fought on a number of different promotions. As such, a fight could well be made between the pair, should he defend his title against Jose Valenzuela.

Then there is a fight against the IBF champion. Subriel Matias defends his belt against Liam Paro in June, with both fighting under the Matchroom Boxing promotional banner.

Should Lopez go down that route, conversations between rival promoters and broadcasters will have to take place and compromises will have to be made.

Lucrative lightweight options include Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson

There are also three pay-per-view stars in the lightweight division who could fancy a step up to super-lightweight to challenge Lopez.

WBC world champion Shakur Stevenson has already stated his desire to fight Lopez and has claimed it would be an ‘easy’ night’s work. Both men are promoted by Top Rank so it shouldn’t be too difficult of a fight to make.

Similarly, IBF world champion Lomachenko is promoted by Top Rank and would be keen to avenge his loss to Lopez at lightweight. Given the Ukrainian has risen through three weight divisions and is aged 36, a move to super-lightweight may prove too much to challenge Lopez, though.

WBA world champion Gervonta Davis would present a mega fight but given ‘Tank’ is promoted by Premier Boxing Champions and is one of their marquee fighters on the Amazon Prime platform, promoter and broadcaster disputes would likely rule that fight out.

Another lightweight fighter who could emerge as an option is Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis. Davis is seen as one of the biggest prospects in boxing and has had verbal back and forth with Lopez before.

Both men are promoted by Top Rank but Davis probably needs a world title to really get the juices flowing for a fight with Lopez. Davis will likely get a shot at WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk to do just that.

Jack Catterall option

British boxer Jack Catterall has called out Lopez after his rematch win over former undisputed super-lightweight champion, Josh Taylor.

Catterall was WBO mandatory challenger for years until Taylor finally gave him his shot back in 2022. Catterall knocked down Taylor but lost a contentious fight on a split decision.

Taylor relinquished three of his belts before defending his WBO strap against Lopez and losing that to the American star.

After Catterall beat Taylor and righted the wrongs of the first fight, he now has his eye on the WBO world title he feels should have been his two years ago.

“I was mandatory for the WBO world title for what felt like a lifetime,” Catterall said.

“He beat Taylor before I did. We both have the win over him and I want to prove that I am better than him. I believe I’ve got the style to beat Lopez and that’s the fight I want.”

Catterall has since asked his followers on X who they would like to see him fight next and after the majority of the replies came back with Lopez’s name, he called out “The Takeover” for a second time.

“I can see @TeofimoLopez got the most votes let’s do it when you finish with Claggett. Don’t worry, I’ll fly to you or we can meet in neutral grounds in the kingdom. @Turki_alalshikh is the man to do it.”

The mandatory road block

What could scupper all of these plans is that Arnold Barboza Jr is the WBO’s mandatory challenger to Lopez’s super-lightweight world title.

The 32-year-old boasts a perfect 32-0 record, although the scorecards drew much criticism in his last win over Ireland’s Sean McComb on the undercard of Garcia’s win over Haney in New York.

Nonetheless, for any of the major fights to happen, Barboza Jr would have to step aside or Lopez would have to fight the American next.

For all the biggest results and upcoming fights this year, check out Dexerto’s 2024 boxing schedule.

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