It will likely be the most anticipated fight of 2025, and so Oscar De La Hoya has floated one of the biggest names out there as a potential opponent for the comeback fight of Ryan Garcia.
On “X,” De La Hoya said two-division and current WBO 140-pound titleholder Teofimo Lopez Jnr makes sense to emerge as the fighter who can help maximize the already fervent interest in how Garcia will fare one year removed from his drug-test-stained, three-knockdown showing against two-division champion Devin Haney.
“Garcia is in a place where he doesn’t have to be attached to a belt, because with his [fan] base and [social media] attention, [fans] want to see, ‘Is he really [that good]? Too big? Too strong? Can he do that to someone else? Is that him? Or not?” veteran trainer and International Boxing Hall of Fame member Teddy Atlas said on Tuesday’s edition of ProBox TV’s “Top Stories.”
“It has nothing to do with a belt but with curiosity.”
The 26-year-old Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), was suspended one year and fined by the New York State Athletic Commission for testing positive three times for the banned performance-enhancing substance ostarine before rocking and repeatedly knocking down Haney with his left hook and claiming a majority decision triumph that was ultimately downgraded to a no-contest.
Garcia is free to return to fight once his suspension ends April 20 and he participates in Olympic-style drug testing.
In the days following his victory, Garcia incessantly rifled out a flurry of names he would be interested in fighting, from Errol Spence Jnr and Terence Crawford to Sebastian Fundora.
The speculation over whom he’ll fight could trigger another onslaught of mentions to keep Garcia’s name in the news during this layoff, but Atlas and fellow Hall of Famer and “Top Stories” analyst Timothy Bradley Jnr agree that Lopez, 21-1 (13 KOs), is a sound choice.
With victories over Vasiliy Lomachenko and Josh Taylor on his ledger, Brooklyn’s Lopez, 27, has complained about the recently weak slate of opponents assigned to him by promoter Top Rank.
“Teofimo Lopez is due for a big prizefight, and both of these guys are very marketable,” Bradley said. “Lopez is very vocal, very brash and a very skilled 140-pound champion. … It’s a fight I wouldn’t mind seeing and one that Teofimo can win. But Ryan Garcia is no slouch, and with that left hook, he can turn anybody’s lights out.”
It’s highly doubtful Lopez and Garcia would fight at 140 pounds given that Garcia missed the weight limit by 3.5 pounds against Haney, and how Lopez has expressed willingness to move up to 154 pounds to fight junior middleweight titleholder Terence Crawford.
“The fans would definitely clamor for that,” Bradley said.
While Atlas said Lopez has run “hot and cold” by delivering his significant triumphs but also losing to George Kambosos Jnr and turning in lackluster showings against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett, there would be great suspense about the outcome given Garcia’s popularity.
Atlas and Bradley agreed that Haney should avoid an immediate rematch with Garcia. Haney’s father, Bill, has urged Garcia to immediately enroll in drug testing so the pair can fight upon the suspension’s end.
“That was a brutal-ass beatdown,” Bradley said. “Going right back into it doesn’t make sense to me. Take [a lesser fight] on the chin, test it out. Before you go right back in the ring [with Garcia], face those demons.”
Said Atlas: “You need that softer-touch fight. It’s for the physical part and the mental part to get the fighter to know he’s OK, because the last time in the ring, he was not OK.”
Bradley advised Haney to ensure his next opponent is “not a puncher, not a banger. I fought [Hall of Famer Juan Manuel] Marquez after [fighting the vicious slugger Ruslan] Provodnikov [who concussed Bradley]. I did that to make me focus.”
Bradley won the fight and continued on to bigger fights against Manny Pacquiao.
“So don’t fight that guy,” Bradley said. “Fight another guy.”