World champion in the WBO version in the super lightweight category Teofimo Lopez stated that he refused to fight Devin Haney because he believes they wanted to put him in unfavorable conditions.
“Why did people think they could do anything to us at all? Gervonta Davis said he heard that Haney is the fighter of Sheikh Turki Al al-Sheikh. So if Haney is his fighter, and they want me to go for it, doesn’t that speak volumes that I have to lose there? I can only beat him by knockout, and Davis said that too. We can do our job only if we knock him out, and I do not underestimate my skills.
Our interests were not taken into account in the contract. I’m not going to Saudi Arabia without knowing what will happen. This only plays into Haney’s hands. They don’t care about losing. They need money, and they will come up with a way to file a lawsuit against me.
Get out and throw punches, rather than just move around the ring for all 12 rounds. I grew up with other fighting styles. The way Haney fights is not boxing. They should arrange a fight between Rolando Romero and Haney,” said Lopez.
