As he builds in the direction of his subsequent battle in Las Vegas on February 8, WBO super-lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez has accused one among his rivals of ‘driving off his coat tails.’
The battle is reasonably uniquely going down on a Thursday, a number of days forward of this yr’s Tremendous Bowl. It finds Lopez arising in opposition to Jamaine Ortiz, a contender who’s on the rise and gave Vasiliy Lomachenko plenty of issues once they met in October 2022.
Lopez has famously overwhelmed Lomachenko after all, however went on to lose to George Kambossos Jr at a time when he was fighting relationship points exterior the ring. He’s again to profitable methods once more now, and in addition again to stoking fires together with his boxing rivals.
Chatting with Boxing Social, he accused fellow champion Devin Haney of copying his type.
“Haney’s simply driving off my coat tails. Copy and paste. The one distinction is our pores and skin complexion and that’s what stays with the race. However that’s the factor, this isn’t a race, this isn’t a marathon in that finish.
“The one race I imagine in is what Rosa Parks stated, which is their nice, nice, nice grandmother, she stated it greatest. The one race I imagine in is the human race. There’s no distinction between us, there’s no black and white.”
Haney has held a number of world titles in two weight courses and is the present WBC super-lightweight champion having overwhelmed Regis Prograis in December. His subsequent battle isn’t but confirmed, although sooner or later down the road, a conflict with Lopez could be excellent.