{"id":815317,"date":"2026-10-27T09:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/815317\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T09:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:30:14","slug":"ryan-garcia-vs-teofimo-lopez-unification-has-target-date-but-one-glaring-obstacle-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/815317\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Garcia vs Teofimo Lopez unification has target date but one glaring obstacle remains"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Ryan Garcia<\/a> and Teofimo Lopez<\/a> are in talks to collide early next year, it could be that their hoped-for unification match is not sanctioned as such.<\/p>\n

As things stand, Lopez is the reigning WBA welterweight champion following his clash with Rolando \u2018Rolly\u2019 Romero<\/a>, who he dethroned with a majority decision victory in August.<\/p>\n

Then, the following month, Garcia retained his WBC 147lb title \u2013 which he had acquired by dethroning Mario Barrios in February \u2013 with a second-round finish over Conor Benn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But while the two Americans are now targeting a showdown on February 6, a refusal to face mandatory challenger Jack Catterall could lead to Lopez getting stripped of his belt.<\/p>\n

Speaking to IFL TV<\/a>, Catterall\u2019s promoter, Eddie Hearn, seemed confident that the WBA will stand by its ruling and award his client a full world title shot, or just simply elevate him from \u2018regular\u2019 to \u2018super\u2019 champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WBA made their decision. They ordered the fight [and] Team Teofimo Lopez complained. They said: \u2018We\u2019d like you to reconsider; we\u2019d like to look at having a unification.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd people like [Lopez\u2019 manager] Keith Connolly say: \u2018A unification always supersedes a mandatory.\u2019 [But] not when [the mandatory has] already been ordered, and not when there\u2019s a backlog of about three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of the \u201cbacklog\u201d, Hearn is referring to the fact that previous champions, such as Romero, were able to skip past their mandatory challengers.<\/p>\n

The Matchroom promoter therefore feels that Catterall occupies a strong position, whether he ends up facing Lopez or is elevated to WBA \u2018super\u2019 champion.<\/p>\n

As for a potential clash between Lopez and Garcia, Ring Magazine\u2019s Mike Coppinger has reported that the fight is likely to take place in New York or Las Vegas, regardless of any ruling by the WBA.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I] would be surprised if Garcia-Teofimo didn\u2019t take place next. [February 6] is the targeted date right now as talks continue. The WBA decision won\u2019t impact talks and neither will any prospect of a Floyd Mayweather fight. That, in the unlikely event it happens, would take place after Teo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would be surprised if Garcia-Teofimo didn\u2019t take place next. Feb. 6 is the targeted date right now as talks continue. The WBA decision won\u2019t impact talks and neither will any prospect of a Floyd Mayweather fight. That, in the unlikely event it happens, would take place after Teo. https:\/\/t.co\/j5yhkIT6KL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) October 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, Garcia has been linked to a bizarre fight with Mayweather but, according to Coppinger, it remains unlikely that they will collide anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez are in talks to collide early next year, it could be that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-815317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}