As he builds towards his next fight in Las Vegas on February 8, WBO super-lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez has accused one of his rivals of ‘riding off his coat tails.’
The fight is rather uniquely taking place on a Thursday, a few days ahead of this year’s Super Bowl. It finds Lopez coming up against Jamaine Ortiz, a contender who is on the rise and gave Vasiliy Lomachenko a number of problems when they met in October 2022.
Lopez has famously beaten Lomachenko of course, but went on to lose to George Kambossos Jr at a time when he was struggling with relationship issues outside the ring. He is back to winning ways again now, and also back to stoking fires with his boxing rivals.
Speaking to Boxing Social, he accused fellow champion Devin Haney of copying his style.
“Haney’s just riding off my coat tails. Copy and paste. The only difference is our skin complexion and that’s what stays with the race. But that’s the thing, this is not a race, this is not a marathon in that end.
“The only race I believe in is what Rosa Parks said, which is their great, great, great grandmother, she said it best. The only race I believe in is the human race. There’s no difference between us, there’s no black and white.”
Haney has held multiple world titles in two weight classes and is the current WBC super-lightweight champion having beaten Regis Prograis in December. His next fight is not yet confirmed, though at some point down the line, a clash with Lopez would be superb.