Teofimo Lopez wanted Ryan Garcia. The WBA just handed him Jack Catterall instead.
The WBA Championship Committee ordered a mandatory welterweight title bout between Lopez, the WBA Super Champion, and Catterall, the WBA Regular champion. The parties have from Sept. 22 through close of business on Oct. 22 to negotiate, after which the committee can order a purse bid with the WBA President’s approval.
How Lopez got stuck with this
The obligation was inherited. When Rolando Romero was elevated to WBA Super Champion, the sanctioning body attached a condition: the winner of Shakhram Giyasov versus Catterall would face Romero, with Romero allowed one optional defense first.
Catterall beat Giyasov by unanimous decision in May. Lopez then beat Romero by majority decision on Aug. 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and with the belt came the mandatory.
Lopez is 23-2 with 13 knockouts. Catterall, a British southpaw, is 33-2 with 14 knockouts. Catterall also stepped aside once already to let Romero face Lopez, which is why the WBA is not entertaining another delay.
Catterall is not asking politely
“Hey mate @TeofimoLopez, you fancy scrapping on the Fury-A-J card? If not, don’t worry, I’ll come to America and get my belt. Either way, I’ll see you soon, champ,” Catterall posted on X.
Eddie Hearn announced the WBA order on X shortly after, which tells you Matchroom is very happy about this.
Lopez’s team is not conceding
Keith Connolly, Lopez’s manager, pushed back publicly.
“I respect everyone’s opinion, including yours @BoxeoPats, but we were told something different by WBA, so yes, we’ll sit with Teo and decide what we will do. Teo wants the biggest fights possible,” Connolly wrote on X.
“Biggest fights possible” means Ryan Garcia, who stopped Conor Benn earlier this month to retain the WBC welterweight title and immediately called Lopez out. Garcia is 26-2 with 21 knockouts and has separately agreed to face WBC super lightweight champion Isaac Cruz.
Catterall is the worst possible stylistic draw
This is why Lopez’s camp is scrambling. Lopez has always struggled with awkward, disciplined technicians. Sandor Martin dropped him in 2022. Jamaine Ortiz frustrated him for twelve rounds in 2024, and Lopez won on the cards while looking nothing like a star.
Catterall is a rangy southpaw with a high ring IQ and a thirty-three-win resume built on making opponents uncomfortable. He is all downside for Lopez: low pay-per-view value, high risk of an ugly decision, and a real chance of losing the belt.
Garcia is the opposite. Huge money, huge audience, and a stylistic matchup that flatters Lopez.
Take the mandatory
Lopez should fight Catterall, and here is why. Vacating or ducking a mandatory to chase a bigger check is how fighters end up with a highlight reel and no legacy.
Beat Catterall and the Garcia fight is still there in the spring, with a cleaner belt and a better story. Skip Catterall and the WBA strips the title, which removes the only thing making Lopez a mandatory-level attraction in the first place.
The clock runs out Oct. 22.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.