Former two-division champion Teofimo Lopez Jnr has been notified that he is the next fighter in line to meet IBF top-ranked contender Lindolfo Delgado for the now-vacant 140lbs title.
Following the move of former belt holder Richardson Hitchins to Zuffa Boxing’s welterweight division, the IBF worked to order a title fight for Delgado, 24-0 (16 KOs), a 31-year-old from Mexico who most recently fought in November.
Both Oscar Duarte, Delgado’s Robert Garcia Boxing Academy stablemate, and former lightweight champion and No. 4 contender Keyshawn Davis have fights scheduled in May, however, leading to No. 5 contender Lopez, 22-2 (13 KOs), to be next in line for the title shot.
Lopez previously fought on January 31, losing a wide decision for the WBO 140lbs belt to four-division champion Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lopez told BoxingScene afterward that he was planning to move to welterweight, but with WBC titleholder Ryan Garcia expressing interest in a first title defense versus England’s Conor Benn, Lopez will entertain the title-fight option.
Lopez co-manager Michael Borao said he was contacted Tuesday by the IBF about the Delgado fight opportunity, and said he and co-manager Keith Connolly plan to discuss possible next bouts with Lopez by next week.
The Ring Magazine first reported Lopez’s emergence in the IBF picture.
Duarte will meet Angel Fierro in a non-title bout May 2 at T-Mobile Arena after Hitchins withdrew because of an illness on the day of their scheduled February 21 title bout. Duarte is also ranked by the WBC and WBA.
Davis will meet Nahir Albright May 16 in promoter Top Rank’s first card on DAZN, in Norfolk, Virginia.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
