Devin Haney believes one man will claim a comfortable victory if Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez end up colliding early next year.
The two welterweight champions are potentially set to square off on February 6, irrespective of whether Lopez keeps hold of his WBA ‘super’ title.
He claimed the belt – and, in doing so, became a three-division world champion – by dethroning Rolando Romero with a majority decision victory in August.
One issue that could have prevented the unification clash between Lopez and Garcia from taking place was Lopez being ordered to make a mandatory defence of his WBA belt against ‘regular’ champion Jack Catterall.
That could be about to change though, after The Ring reported that the WBA have notified all relevant parties that Lopez still has the right to apply for a special permit to proceed with the unification battle against Garcia.
After dethroning Mario Barrios with a points victory earlier this year, Garcia retained his WBC strap with a second-round finish over Conor Benn in September.
As a result, WBO champion Haney has told Inside The Ring that Garcia, based largely on his recent form, should be considered a sizable favourite against Lopez.
“I think Ryan will win comfortably. I don’t think Teo is the same Teo that fought [Lomachenko in 2020] … [and] I think Ryan is just too twitchy, too fast [and] too confident.
“We say we don’t know what Ryan Garcia will show up, [but] I think we really don’t know what Teofimo Lopez will show up.”
Haney was floored three times and lost a majority decision to Garcia in 2024, only for the result to be ruled a no-contest after his opponent tested positive for banned substance ostarine.
