Teofimo Lopez’s repeatedly-delayed return against mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr appears to be fully set for Saturday, Oct. 16, the latest date for the troubled event from Triller Fight Club.
FITE TV are now officially listing the fight for that date, having previously had it set for Monday, Oct. 4, which Triller recently decided to change. The fight has also had dates on June 5 and June 19, and also proposed dates of Aug. 14 and Sept. 11 that didn’t work out.
Triller surprised everyone by winning the purse bid for the bout, paying much more than Matchroom Boxing or Top Rank offered back in February, and the fight has been a mess to actually get in the ring since then.
Right now, it appears it will finally happen, with Brooklyn’s Barclays Center booked for a true Lopez (16-0, 12 KO) homecoming as he defends his WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight titles against IBF mandatory Kambosos (19-0, 10 KO), who will be a major underdog but does have some believers, including those who feel Lopez may not be taking this fight as seriously as he should.
The most recent update had been that Lopez’s team had signed off on moving the fight back another 12 days, while Triller were waiting for Kambosos’ side to do the same.
The undercard has already been announced and isn’t going to excite anyone, but with this move to the new date, Triller have also promised to pair the show with a big Verzuz rap battle event, which should help make up some money already lost, because those have actually found a legitimate audience and have taken off big on social media.
As for boxing competition it faces, DAZN will have Mikey Garcia returning against Sandor Martin that evening, which isn’t likely to cut into potential buys in any difference-making number. Among those who were going to buy Lopez-Kambosos in the first place, Garcia-Martin is not something that will likely change many minds.