Lopez holds the WBO super-lightweight belt. He won it in June 2023 when he beat Josh Taylor. Before that, he made waves in the lightweight division. He unified the division by beating Vasiliy Lomachenko. Since moving up, he's won fights against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett on points.
Now, Lopez wants to fight Garcia. But he's got one condition - USADA drug testing must be in place. Looking further ahead, Lopez has even bigger plans. He wants to move up two divisions to face Terence Crawford.
Garcia, known as 'King Ryan', is a big name on social media. His last fight was against Devin Haney in April 2023. He missed weight for that WBC super-lightweight title fight. At first, it looked like Garcia had won on points and even knocked Haney down a few times. But the result changed to 'no contest' when Garcia failed a drug test. Now, he can't fight again until April 2025.
Robert Garcia, who trains top fighters like Jesse Rodriguez and Vergil Ortiz, shared his thoughts on the potential fight with FightHype. He said:
"It's a nice fight. Ryan has very explosive power, man. He's very fast. it's dangerous for Teo. But Teo, when he comes at his f***ing best, he's unstoppable. Look at his performance against Lomachenko, then he fights Josh Taylor the way he did? He's unbeatable. But then he has those performances where we're not very happy. So, depending on that, I think Teo has the heart, the skills, the power to beat Ryan. It depends what he brings."
Garcia thinks Ryan's explosive power and speed make him a real threat. But he believes Lopez can win if he brings his A-game. He pointed to Lopez's fights against Lomachenko and Taylor as examples of how good he can be. Garcia says Lopez has the heart, skills, and power to beat Ryan. But it all depends on which version of Lopez shows up on fight night.