Andreas HaleJun 5, 2025, 05:53 PM ET
- Andreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas' free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM's Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z's Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film "Bridges" in 2024.
A proposed fight between WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney on Aug. 16 has fallen apart in recent days, with Lopez's management stating that Lopez will not be fighting for "personal reasons."
Initial reports suggested that the fight was set for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) was originally set to face Ryan Garcia in a rematch later this year after beating Jose Ramirez in Times Square on May 2. However, between Garcia losing in an upset to Rolando Romero in the main event and subsequently undergoing hand surgery, that fight was off the table. Lopez, who fought and won on the same card as Garcia and Haney, initially called for a fight with unified welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis despite being a weight class beneath him.
Haney refuted that Lopez (22-1) had signed the contract and cited the contracted weight as the issue.
"The fight with Teo is not signed," Haney posted on X. "I signed my part and Teo has been stalling. As of today, he has decided he doesn't wanna fight me. He is officially the biggest [duck]...I wanted the fight at 147 [pounds], he wanted the fight at 140 [pounds]. We negotiated to meet at 145 even though he was willing to fight [Jaron] 'Boots' [Ennis] at 147."
Lopez has been silent on the matter but was recently at odds with Saudi Arabia's Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and Ring Magazine owner Turki Alalshikh, who would be the promoter of the fight. Lopez apologized for a recent tweet barrage, with several disparaging remarks targeting Alalshikh.
Keith Connolly, Lopez's co-manager, released a statement to Ring Magazine Thursday explaining why the fight isn't happening.
"Unfortunately, Teo won't be fighting in August for personal reasons that I will keep confidential," the statement read. "We planned on fighting but with what was going on he wanted to make sure he was 100% right mentally and physically and August was just too quick of a turnaround. I expect Teo to be back later this year, bigger and better than ever."
