WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez just took shots at WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis for his choice of opponent. Just the other day, reports revealed that ‘Tank’ Davis will lock horns with WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach on Saturday 14th December 2024, though a venue for the fight has not yet been confirmed.
This came after a potential fight against Ukrainian boxing legend and IBF lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko fell apart. Many were surprised by Davis’ choice to face someone from the lower division instead of the top talents in his own division. It seems to have rubbed Lopez the wrong way, who expressed his disdain while appearing on the ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast on YouTube.
Speaking to Lopez, Mason Betha aka Mase, the host of the show, probed the super lightweight champion whether he could dominate Davis in a fight. In response, Lopez confidently said, “I think I dominate any of them,” adding that if his resume and others were compared, most boxers, including Davis, have failed to take the next big step in their careers by facing the top-tier opponents.
“There’s that next criteria or that next top tier. And if you don’t match that, you’re never going to know how great you really are,” Lopez said. Claiming he has already done those things in his career thus far, Lopez added, “I have yet to see Gervonta come out of that box.” Lopez didn’t seem to be a big fan of Davis fighting Roach from a lower weight class.
“Everybody put him with a guy at 130 pounds. Whether he’s a champion or not, you getting a guy lighter than you to come up [in] weight to make you look good again,” Lopez told Mason Betha. It’s also worth mentioning that Roach was supposed to defend his title against interim WBA super featherweight champion Albert Batyrgaziev.
However, with a one-time exception, Roach was granted permission by the WBA to compete for the lightweight strap. If Roach causes an upset, he will have to choose whether to stay in lightweight or move back down to super featherweight. In case of a loss, Roach will have no option other than to face his mandatory next.
Regardless, Davis’ next fight update seems to have launched him into a back-and-forth with his arch-rival.
If you were living under a rock, Davis and Devin Haney aren’t exactly friends. They may have been in the early days of their professional career, but that’s not the case anymore. The duo can be often found on social media, exchanging words of derogation. Lo and behold, after Davis’ fight against Roach came to light, Haney was right there laughing at Davis.
talkSport editor Michael Benson shared the update with his followers on X, which saw Haney reacting to it with “[Five faces with tears of joy emojis].” This prompted Davis to respond to Haney’s tweet by sharing a still from Haney’s fight against Ryan Garcia, getting punched in the face. Davis wrote in the caption, “Nahh let’s keep laughing.. ya face hate to see a left hook coming.. [Eighteen faces with tears of joy emojis].”
It seems like Gervonta Davis scrambling to find an opponent for himself after Vasyl Lomachenko left him hanging has made him the laughingstock in the boxing world. However, the question is, how is it any different from Teofimo Lopez fighting Steve Claggett, who wasn’t even a champion?
