IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) and WBO belt-holder Teofimo Lopez traded insults on Friday on X, about Teo choosing to face his mandatory Arnold Barboza Jr. on Turki Alalshikh’s Times Square event on May 2nd in New York City.
Lopez-Barboza Jr. is fighting on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. Also on the card is Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez.
Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) could have fought Hitcins in a unification match at 140, but opted to take on #1 WBO ranked contender Barboza Jr. (32-0, 11 KOs). According to Lopez, Hitchins wanted $2.5 million minimum for the fight against him, and Turki felt it was too high. So, he went with the less expensive Barboza Jr for Lopez’s opponent.
It may not matter that Teofimo chose not to take the fight with Hitchins. The way he’s been fighting since 2021, the chances are that he’ll lose the fight to Barboza Jr. unless the judges bail him out, as many believe they did in his fights against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. If Teo loses to Barboza Jr, Hitchins would be doing him a favor by fighting him because he would be just a contender at that point.
Lopez has a three-fight contract with Turki Alalshikh, and after his defense against Barboza Jr. on May 2nd, he’ll be facing Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in October.
It’s understandable why Hitchins would be upset about Lopez choosing to go in another direction, but he should have seen this coming. He’s been turning down fighters left and right lately. He’s become difficult to deal with in the last five year since his upset victory over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020.
