Teofimo Lopez has been given a shot at featuring on one of the biggest cards of the year but only if he takes care of mandatory business first. Jack Catterall is now campaigning for a fight as well.
Lopez is coming off a majority decision win over Rolando Romero last month, a victory that came with a genuine scare in round five but was, by most accounts, more convincing than the scorecards reflected. Despite a one-sided loss to Shakur Stevenson back in January, Lopez has shown he remains a serious operator at the world level.
Lopez has publicly expressed interest in a welterweight unification fight against WBC champion Ryan Garcia, but before any of that can happen, the WBA has ordered him to make a mandatory defense against Jack Catterall, who won his WBA “Regular” title with a career-best performance against Shakhram Giyasov in May.
Catterall, for his part, took to X to make clear he’s ready either way, asking Lopez directly:
Hey mate [Lopez], you fancy scrapping on the [Fury-Joshua] card? If not don’t worry, I’ll come to America and get my belt. Either way I’ll see you soon champ.
If Lopez does move forward with the Catterall fight rather than vacating, it could end up slotting onto the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua card at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza has given both sides until October 22 to reach an agreement before the fight risks going to a purse bid hearing.
Update: Fury vs. Joshua has since been made official for Cardiff on Netflix, though the undercard has not been announced. Catterall and Lopez are not the only names in the mix: Manny Pacquiao and Shakur Stevenson are reportedly in talks to fight on the same show.
