Posted on 10/20/2021
By: Hans Themistode
After several starts and stops, Teofimo Lopez will finally defend his WBO, WBA, and IBF lightweight titles against mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. Their contest is now officially set to take place on November 27th, at Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden.
Both Kambosos Jr. and Lopez have gone back and forth for the past several months with seemingly, no true concrete date to work with. After watching Triller win their purse bid earlier this year, Kambosos Jr. and Lopez sat back and patiently waited for their contest to take place. However, the pair was incredulous about the consistent postponements.
With Kambosos Jr. unwilling to placate the wishes of Triller by moving their fight date once again, the streaming company was ultimately found to be in default. Subsequently, long-time promoter Eddie Hearn, was then given the right to promote their showdown since he originally dished out the second-largest bid.
Although Hearn was thrilled with the news, he struggled with finding an immediate date. Nevertheless, with Ryan Garcia forced off his November 27th encounter against Joseph Diaz due to hand surgery, Hearn has now given the vacant slot to Lopez vs. Kambosos Jr.
Since picking the biggest win of his career against Vasyl Lomachenko in October of 2020, Lopez has sat idly by as his career came to a grinding halt. Needless to say, with reassurance that his contest against Kambosos Jr. will take place next, Lopez is now patiently watching the clock.
“The time has finally come!” said López. “It has been a long wait for Team Takeover. We’ve been in the zone for six months and counting but we’re pleased to be able to finally get this fight on DAZN! The Takeover will show the world once again why we are called ‘The People’s Champ’.”