Hitchins made his challenge public on Twitter. He wrote:
"I will do my best to give you guys Hitchins vs Teofimo Lopez next … this a must make fight for the sport of boxing … Unification [with] two highly skilled fighters. I can't wait to dominate and prove I'm of the faces of the sport of boxing. UNIFICATION TIME!"
This isn't the first time Hitchins has asked for the fight. He previously called out Lopez before defending his title against George Kambosos Jr. In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Hitchins said:
"I was hearing talks, me and him was both signed to the same manager so I heard he was telling my manager he's down to sign the fight. If he ain't trying to fight Devin Haney, he think it's sweet over here, he got another thing coming but n***a talk, maybe he's just talking because I want smoke, I've called him right in the ring this ain't fake, this ain't no propaganda … I wanna fight, I feel I'm the best."
Hitchins backed up his words on June 14, 2025. He stopped Kambosos, Lopez's former rival, with a body shot in the 8th round in New York City. The win allowed Hitchins to keep his IBF title.
Lopez, known as "The Takeover," holds the WBO world super-lightweight belt. The 27-year-old from Brooklyn has won world titles in two weight classes. He used to be the unified WBA, WBO and IBF world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2021. After losing those titles to Kambosos Jr in an upset, Lopez moved up in weight and beat Josh Taylor for his current WBO title.
Lopez's last fight was on May 2, 2025, in Times Square. He won a unanimous decision against Arnold Barboza Jr. Right now, Lopez doesn't have any fights planned. He's tried to set up bouts with Devin Haney and Jaron Ennis, but those talks didn't work out.
With both champions looking for their next big fight, a unification bout between Hitchins and Lopez could be on the horizon.