Triller Ditches Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos, States Demands In Letter To IBF

By Fight Sports Oct 4, 2021

The October 4 date of Teofimo Lopez versus George Kambosos Jr is officially cancelled, the October 16 date might or might not happen and Triller Fight Club has pulled from promoting the fight altogether.

Triller Fight Club Chief Operating Officer Thorsten Meier wrote a letter to IBF President Daryl Peoples and IBF Attorney Linda Torres on Friday stating specific demands and news that Triller will no longer be part of the planned fight card.

“As you are undoubtedly aware, the deadline set forward in our Sept. 30 dated letter has now passed,” Meier wrote in a copy obtained by World Boxing News. “As such and under all applicable rules and regulations we demand:

“1. Kambosos needs to be immediately stripped of his IBF ranking; 2. An immediate refund of our purse bid deposit; 3. The IBF to set a new purse bid and purse bid date with the next highest contender in the IBF rankings (to be clear, Triller would now have the option, but not the obligation, to decide if we want to bid or not on the same).

“Per our letter, we officially have pulled the Lopez Kambosos fight off our October 16th card as outlined. A letter hereof will be forthcoming from Triller’s counsel.”

This saga has gone through dates including: May 29, June 19, August 14, September 11, October 17, October 5 and, now October 4.

Reasons for the multiple rescheduling includes Lopez testing positive with Covid-19 a week before June 19, Triller wanting to avoid a possible New York Yankees home playoff game on October 5 and Triller refusing to compete with Monday Night Football on October 4.

Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh leaked an October 16 date on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, which Lopez would later agree to — by cutting a deal on the side with Triller — but Kambosos, an Australian boxer, firmly refused. The only way to agree was if he got an extra $400,000 for signing off.

Kambosos’ team also filed for legal action against Triller – who won the rights to the fight back in February – saying the startup company breached the contract.

If the IBF declares Triller in default, the deposit money would be split between Lopez and Kambosos on the same 65-35 split. The promotional rights would then go to Matchroom Boxing, who had the second highest bid, but they can also pass it off to Top Rank.

The start-up company won with a $6,018,000 bid, outbidding Matchroom Boxing with its $3,506,000 and Lopez’s promoter Top Rank with $2,315,000.

The day before Meier wrote to the IBF, Triller Attorney Farhad Novian wrote a more detailed letter on the company’s position. He stated that “with all the delays Triller was now out about $15 million in expenses toward the event, though he did not include any receipts or documentation.”

Triller is also now looking to move away from staging boxing events after the Lopez-Kambosos saga and the hard-to-watch matchup between Vitor Belfort and Evander Holyfield.