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Boxing

Teofimo Lopez says Gervonta Davis chose Mario Barrios fight to avoid him

Teofimo Lopez says Gervonta Davis chose Mario Barrios fight to avoid himGettyImages
Gervonta Davis faces Mario Barrios on Saturday night. Teofimo Lopez believes "Tank" has chosen safer option.

Teofimo Lopez has accused Gervonta Davis of avoiding him. The lightweight ruler, who is set to defend his world titles against George Kambosos later this year, claims the Baltimore puncher wants no part of him. 

Davis, who is due to take on Mario Barrios at 140lbs this weekend, has flirted with many weight classes in recent years without really settling at one.  

With any fighter from super-feather to super-lightweight likely to be on “Tank’s” radar, a contest with Lopez is a realistic possibility. The Brooklyn fighter, recovering from Covid-19, thinks otherwise. 

“He’s doing it because he doesn’t wanna fight me,” Lopez said to BoxingScene. “That’s the bottom line. He skipped two divisions just to fight Mario Barrios, who’s not as [good of a fighter]. We can say he’s a C-plus fighter at 140.” 

“It’s not that big of a risk, but it looks good on the resume, right? The guy’s undefeated, he’s a WBA interim world champion. It looks good.  

“Floyd’s [Mayweather] not making no mistakes with this guy. He’s making Gervonta look like a three-time world champion, when he’s a three-time interim world champion.  

"You get what I’m saying? You get the memo? I understand how these guys move, you know? But with social media and everybody, they buy into it because they’re so small-minded they don’t see the bigger picture but I do.”