Eddie Hearn believes his boxer Devin Haney should be next in line to fight Teofimo Lopez Jr.
The 23-year-old Lopez won his unification fight with experienced Ukranian Vasiliy Lomachenko after months of attacking his rival in the press, and Hearn has been impressed by his form, calling him, ‘a bad man.’
He now believes that Haney, two years Lopez’s junior, should be the next challenger for Lopez.
Speaking to the Ak & Barak Show, Hearn said: “About a year and a half ago, I sat with Devin Haney and he told me that he wanted to take a shot at the WBC title.
“I told him that Lomachenko is champ and advised him to go another route, and he said 'No, I want to fight Lomachenko.'
Hearn explained how he had planned to make a Lomachenko fight with Haney: “We sat down with WBC to make the fight happen.
“WBC instead worked with Top Rank to make Loma the franchise champ, and Haney the world champ.
“We did not want that. Haney wanted to beat Loma. Devin Haney should have been the guy to defeat Loma and chase greatness.”
The Matchroom promoter may want a Lopez-Haney fight to come quickly, but he also suggested an alternative fight for Haney given the Dec. 5 clash between Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell.
“Devin Haney should be the next or second in line to face Teofimo. Haney should face the winner of Garcia-Campbell or face Teofimo,” he said.
“We at Matchroom along with Haney chased Lomachenko for the longest and deserve to have been the mandatory against Lomachenko.”
Returning to his early claim about the WBC acting against the interests of Haney’s plans, Hearn again suggested they were attempting to serve their current belt holders rather than make the fights that people should be entitled to.
“The WBC in this situation, are protecting their champions. That goes against the rankings and tournaments Haney has conquered.”