Lopez-Loma May Be In Play

For Teofimo Lopez, this Saturday against Richard Commey is not only his chance to become IBF lightweight champion, but Bob Arum believes it will bring him to Vasyl Lomachenko.

Speaking with Boxing Scene Lopez believed there was a 50-50 shot that Lomachenko would be next him if he walks out of the Garden as the IBF lightweight titleholder.

“Well, it’s 50-50 now that it would happen,” Lopez and Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com. “But if he beats Commey, I think it’s 95-5 that it would happen. In boxing, any kind of crazy thing can happen. A fighter can get hurt. But that’s what we’re planning, for that fight to be the next fight. Loma’s on board. Teofimo sounds like he’s on board. So yeah, that’s the next fight. But obviously, it’s dependent on Teofimo winning on Saturday.”

“It’d like for it to happen in March, but it may have to go over into April because of the tournament,” Arum said of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. “That part, whether it’s March or April, is up to the guys who pay us [ESPN]. So many people watch the tournament, why would you go up against a sporting event that the whole country is talking about?”

“That is the plan,” Arum said of the fight airing on ESPN the same way the Commey-Lopez Tripleheader is following the Heisman Trophy presentation. “But again, that’s not within my purview. In other words, if they say we need that fight on ESPN+ to get more subscribers, so be it. That’s what it’ll be.”

Report: Boxing Scene