Teofimo Lopez vs. Devin Haney was reportedly agreed upon yesterday for a clash at a 145-lb catchweight on August 16th in Riyadh. The Lopez-Haney had not been signed, and it’s now questionable whether the fight will happen after Teofimo’s “Tweet storm” to Turki Alalshikh last night.
Lopez’s “DICKtator” Insult
Teofimo later revealed that he’d been “fired” by Turki and showed a picture of himself, looking down and out, sitting on the sidewalk, holding a can in a begging for money. Lopez insulted Alalshikh, calling him a “DICKtator” in a Tweet, which he later deleted. Turki replied, saying, “Maturity is to realize, most things don’t deserve a reaction.” This back-and-forth suggests that their working relationship has fallen apart.
Alalshikh-Lopez Relationship Ends
Given that the Teofimo vs. Haney fight was likely to have been financed by Alalshikkh for one of the Riyadh Season events, the breakdown of his relationship with Teo last night possibly ended the possibility of that fight happening.
Turki hasn’t made an official statement about the firing of Lopez. Still, Teo’s comments about being “fired” and his public insult of Alalshikh make it unlikely that the fight with Haney will still happen.
No Turki Funding for Fight?
Without Turki’s financing, Lopez-Haney wouldn’t be for the same kind of money. Haney might not be interested, especially it involves a pay cut from his tune-up fight against Jose Ramirez on the May 2nd event at Times Square in New York City.
Haney reportedly received $10 million for that non-title fight againt his past best Ramirez. That was a gimme for Devin. Fighting Lopez would involve a massive risk for Haney’s career, potentially ruining his chances of ever getting a rematch against Ryan Garcia if he were to lose.
Dan Rafael reported on X that the fight between Teofimo (22-1, 13 KOs) and Haney had been agreed to on Tuesday, but it still hadn’t been signed. It’s unknown if the fight will happen without Turki’s involvement; that clash likely wouldn’t interest Haney (32-0, 15 KOs).
Devin wants the rematch with Ryan. He’s not going to jeopardize that by taking a difficult fight againt an elite-level fighter unless it’s for absurd money.
Last Updated on 05/28/2025
