Teofimo Lopez can’t think of an enticing reason to remain a lightweight after his fight against George Kambosos Jr. on Saturday night.

Lopez is convinced that none of his targeted lightweight rivals – Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney – would be willing to box the undefeated, unified lightweight champion in his first fight of 2022. If that’s true, Lopez figures the time might be right to move up from the lightweight limit of 135 pounds to the junior welterweight division.

“It depends,” Lopez told a small group of reporters on a conference. “I don’t see why not. If I stay at this weight one more time, it’s just so I could stay active a little bit more before [fighting] Josh Taylor [at 140 pounds], because I know he still has to fight [Jack] Catterall in February. So, just something like that, you know, just staying productive, staying active. If anything, man, I might just drop all these belts and let these guys fight for ‘em.

“You know, no one wants to fight me because I hold all the belts. You know? So, it’s like why not? We’ll see what happens. Let’s see what happens weigh-in day. Usually my biggest fight, man, is always the scale. I never missed on the scale, ever. But that’s my biggest fight. I don’t even focus on Saturday night. Right now, my main goal … is just making this weight. So, yup, that’s my main focus.”

The 24-year-old Lopez won the WBA, WBC franchise and WBO lightweight championships from Ukraine’s Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs), whom he beat by unanimous decision in October 2020. Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) also retained his IBF 135-pound crown that night at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

He’ll make a mandated defense of that IBF belt on Saturday night against Australia’s Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs). Their 12-round fight, which has been postponed five times over the past six months, will headline DAZN’s stream from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York (8 p.m. ET).

Caesars Sportsbook lists Lopez as a 10-1 favorite to beat Kambosos, who has won split decisions over Mickey Bey and Lee Selby in each of his last two fights. Davis and Haney also are favored to win their title defenses scheduled for back-to-back nights early in December.

Las Vegas’ Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) is set to make a mandatory defense of his WBC world title versus Joseph Diaz Jr. (32-1-1, 15 KOs) on December 4 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. DAZN will stream Haney-Diaz as a main event.

Baltimore’s Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) will defend the WBA’s secondary lightweight title against Mexico’s Isaac Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) the next night, December 5, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Davis-Cruz will headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View event.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn-born Lopez’s inability to land higher-profile fights versus his contemporaries remains a source of frustration for the brash champion.

“I think it’s just ridiculous,” Lopez said. “It’s insane. We wanted the Lomachenko fight back in 2020 and it got postponed. Sh*t happens. That’s the way it goes. But [having] two fights within the cusp of 24 months, that’s depressing. I would understand if I’m making Mayweather money, but it’s not that right now. So, I’ve just gotta keep working and keep building, and the only way I keep building is by the amount of fights that I keep having. By me having all these belts, it’s amazing. But it’s like what good is it if no one wants to fight and take them from me?

“People would rather take the money than fight for the actual things that give us the money, which is the belts. So, it’s like I’m just sitting here in my room just waiting for someone to come up or whatever. And it’s like I’m not getting that, so I might as well look forward to something else. I’ve gotta move on.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.