Plans for a Ryan Garcia vs. Teofimo Lopez unification bout seem to have hit a roadblock.
On Tuesday, the WBA formally ordered Lopez to defend his welterweight title against Jack Catterall next. The pair have until Oct. 22 to reach an agreement before a purse-bid hearing is set.
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Lopez holds the WBA “Super” welterweight championship, while Catterall holds the WBA’s secondary “World” title. The consolidation bout would result in one WBA champion at 147 pounds.
Catterall (33-2, 14 KOs) defeated Shakhram Giyasov to win the WBA World title this past May beneath Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza. The Brit was made the mandatory challenger for Rolando “Rolly” Romero, but the WBA allowed Romero an exception to face Lopez, with the winner obligated to defend against Catterall.
Exactly 30 days after Lopez’s title win, the WBA made good on its promise to Catterall and ordered the mandatory.
Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) was being lined up for a unification bout with WBC welterweight champion Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs). He gatecrashed the final Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn press conference and was in the building at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena when Garcia called him out after Garcia’s second-round TKO win over Benn earlier this month.
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Lopez could still proceed with talks to face Garcia if a step-aside deal is worked out with Catterall or if he vacates his WBA belt.
Garcia told Uncrowned days after his win over Benn that he would like to return in a tune-up bout in December or January before a big fight on Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Such a timeframe would allow Lopez to take care of his mandatory obligation against Catterall in the meantime, before a potential major unification bout.
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