Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez briefly spoke on Thursday during The Underdog. The two fighters had been in talks for a 145-lb catchweight fight in August in Riyadh, but Teofimo changed his mind about taking the fight.
On Thursday, Haney was sitting near Turki Alalshikh when he motioned for Teofimo to come over and speak to him. He may want to try to restart talks for a mega-fight between them in 2026, provided that Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) is victorious in his title challenge against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. on November 22, 2025, in Riyadh.
The Unlikely 2026 Resurgence
Looking at the threat that Norman Jr. poses for Haney, it would seem remote that a clash between Teofimo and Devin will happen soon. A blowout loss to Norman Jr. will require that Haney be rebuilt, who knows how long that’ll take.
It would depend on how badly Norman Jr knocks him out. If it’s similar to how Brian Jr. knocked out his last opponent, Jin Sasaka, on June 19, it could prove to be impossible for Haney to be refurbished for a fight against Teo to materialize.
Teofimo doesn’t have many great options for big-money fights, aside from Haney, Shakur Stevenson, and potentially Ryan Garcia.
Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) is in negotiations with Shakur for a defense of his WBO light welterweight title. If that fight gets made, it’ll interest a lot of boxing fans. It wouldn’t be on the level of Saturday’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight, as neither of these guys has that kind of popularity.
A Tenuous Comeback Trail
Haney’s career is in a dire situation, with him coming off back-to-back poor performances against Jose Ramirez and Ryan Garcia. Boxing Hall of Famer Tim Bradley suspects that Haney has PTSD from his loss to Kingry on April 20, 2024.
“With the way he was fighting, how scared he was,” said Bradley to Fight Hub TV. “PTSD is a real thing in boxing. It’s a real thing, and that’s what I saw with Devin, watching him run around the ring. I was like, ‘Did this dude train with [former sprinter] Usain Bolt? Who the hell did he train with? He’s running around the ring like he’s crazy.’”
Devin’s timid, gunshy performance against Ramirez on Turki’s May 2 Fatal Fury event at Times Square gave Bradley the belief that he’s suffering from PTSD.
If Haney does have that condition, the question is whether he will ever snap out of it to be the fighter he was in the past mentally. Some U.S military vets still have PTSD decades after the war ended. A non-engaging, frightened-looking person might be a waste of time for
Haney’s chances of defeating Brian Norman Jr. are slim in November if he fights the way he did against Ramirez.
Last Updated on 09/12/2025
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