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Mike CoppingerESPN
The Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos soap opera appears to be reaching its conclusion.
Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh told ESPN he sent contracts on Monday to both Lopez and Kambosos for the undisputed lightweight title fight to take place Oct. 5 at New York’s Hulu Theater at MSG.
“We’re really excited about it: Tuesday night boxing in New York,” Kavanaugh said. He added that the pay-per-view will be available for $19.99 via FITE or for $2.99 as part of a monthly Triller subscription.
The IBF’s deadline for Triller to submit contracts and maintain its rights to the fight is Tuesday. That deadline was part of an IBF ruling that scrapped Triller’s plan to hold the fight Oct. 17 in Sydney. The New Jersey-based organization mandated the fight can’t be staged in a country that requires quarantine. Australia currently enforces a 14-day quarantine period.
The struggle to finalize a date and site for the undisputed lightweight title fight led to a legal dispute between Lopez’s manager, David McWater, and Kavanaugh. After the IBF ruling, Kavanaugh made efforts to hold the fight in the Middle East. Ultimately, he decided on New York, where Triller has a monthly Tuesday night boxing series. It debuted earlier this month with heavyweight contender Michael Hunter and a Verzuz rap battle between The Lox and Dipset.
Lopez-Kambosos will represent the rare high-profile boxing match that doesn’t take place on a Saturday. The fight for all four 135-pound belts will land just four days before Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder conclude their trilogy for the heavyweight title on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas.
And it will be at a location Lopez is all too familiar with. ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer has competed at MSG (theater or the big room) six times, most notably a second-round KO of Richard Commey in December 2019. That was Lopez’s first title fight.
The 24-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, added three more titles in his next outing, an October decision win over Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) was set to defend his championship against Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs) on June 19 in Miami but tested positive for COVID days before.
The repeated delays to hold Lopez-Kambosos ended Top Rank’s hope of pairing Teofimo and Loma in a December rematch. Lomachenko remains in talks for a Dec. 11 fight against Commey in New York. Lopez will earn $3.912 million, a career-high payday. He made $1.35 for the Lomachenko fight.
Kambosos, a 28-year-old Australian, became the mandatory challenger with a decision win over Lee Selby in October. He’s set to earn $2.106 million, also a career best.