Teofimo Lopez team weighs WBA future after Jack Catterall order

Teofimo Lopez’s management will consider whether the WBA remains part of his plans after the sanctioning body ordered him to defend his welterweight title against Jack Catterall.

Co-manager Keith Connolly said WBA president Gilberto Mendoza had personally assured both him and Lopez that the Catterall fight would not be mandated. The WBA has given the two camps until October 22 to agree terms for a title consolidation bout, after which a purse bid could be called if negotiations fail or either side withdraws.

“Three weeks ago (WBA president) Gilberto Mendoza personally assured both myself and Teofimo separately the Catterall fight wouldn’t be ordered and Teo could pursue a bigger fight,” Connolly told Dan Rafael. “Me and my co-manager, Mike Borao, and our legal team will meet to decide if Teo wants to allow the WBA to be part of his future plans.”

Lopez’s team has not confirmed that he will relinquish the belt, but Connolly’s comments leave that possibility open. Lopez became a three-division titleholder when he took the WBA welterweight championship from Rolando Romero by majority decision on August 22.

Catterall responded to Connolly on X, writing: “This is what happens when you are spoon fed opportunities. ‘ if he wants to allow the WBA to apart of his future plans ’”

The mandatory inherited from Romero

The dispute concerns an obligation attached to Romero’s reign. After being elevated to WBA “Super” champion, Romero was permitted one optional defence before being required to face the winner of the vacant secondary-title fight between Catterall and Shakhram Giyasov within 180 days.

Catterall unanimously outpointed Giyasov in May, while Romero used his optional defence against Lopez. The WBA subsequently ruled that Lopez had succeeded Romero as champion and inherited the outstanding obligation to face Catterall.

Connolly had already disputed that position on August 29, arguing that Lopez’s team had neither agreed to face Catterall next nor received a contract containing such a condition.

“I have my legal team, and Teo’s legal team, working on that right now,” Connolly said. “We didn’t agree to that – we were never given a contract to sign, saying that we would fight Jack Catterall next.”

Catterall’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has maintained that the challenger’s position was established before Lopez fought Romero. “We have emails from the WBA saying Jack will fight the winner next. That is it,” Hearn said.

Giyasov initially earned the mandatory position by beating Pablo Cesar Cano in a February 2024 eliminator. He later stepped aside to allow then-champion Eimantas Stanionis to face Jaron Ennis in a unification fight. Ennis stopped Stanionis before moving to super-welterweight, and Giyasov’s claim was eventually folded into Romero’s title situation.

When Romero was elevated, Giyasov was instead directed to face Catterall for the secondary belt, with the winner due to meet Romero after his optional defence. Lopez’s victory over Romero left the WBA to decide whether that obligation transferred with the title.

Lopez had been pursuing Garcia

The order complicates Lopez’s pursuit of a unification fight with WBC champion Ryan Garcia. Lopez attended Garcia’s second-round stoppage of Conor Benn in Las Vegas on September 12 and was called out by Garcia afterwards.

Garcia has indicated that he wants another fight in December or January before targeting a larger event around Cinco de Mayo weekend. That schedule could give Lopez time to face Catterall first, although his management has made clear that it does not accept the WBA’s position without question.

Lopez, Connolly, Borao and their lawyers must now decide whether to negotiate with Catterall, challenge the order or proceed without the WBA title. Unless the dispute is resolved earlier, the current negotiating period expires on October 22.