Teofimo Lopez petitions WBA to face Ryan Garcia instead of Jack Catterall

Lopez's manager, Keith Connolly, says talks for a unification fight with Garcia in the first quarter of 2027 have made significant progress, despite the WBA ordering Lopez to defend against Catterall.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Tue 20 Oct, 10:53 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Post by @DAZNBoxing on X

Teofimo Lopez has lodged a formal petition with the WBA asking to put his title on the line against fellow welterweight champion Ryan Garcia, rather than face mandatory challenger Jack Catterall.

Lopez's manager, Keith Connolly, said negotiations for the Garcia fight have made significant progress, with the bout targeted for the first quarter of 2027. The petition is aimed at securing an exception from the sanctioning body, which officially ordered Lopez to fight Catterall in September.

Catterall's claim goes back to before Lopez won the belt. Ahead of Lopez's majority-decision win over Rolly Romero at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in August, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza said the winner would have to defend against Catterall, the organisation's 'regular' titleholder. After the fight, Lopez made it plain he wanted the more lucrative contest with Garcia, and his team entered negotiations regardless of the order.

Connolly said: “We have put legal paperwork in and they said they're going to revise and consider us getting an exception.” He argued that the rules for WBA 'super' champions permit a unification, and added: “We're petitioning the WBA and we think that we have the right, within the WBA ‘super’ champion rules, to make the unification fight.” The WBA's rulebook allows for that route. Rule c.19 says the mandatory obligation can be suspended or modified when the WBA deems it justified if a champion is seeking to unify with another organisation's title, and that the association will consider a request for a special permit. Rule c.40 states that “requests to engage in a title unification bout shall be given special consideration” The WBA has granted such permits recently. Junior bantamweight champion David Jimenez was ordered to face John Ramirez but has been cleared to fight Seigo Yuri Akui in Tokyo on 29 November.

The case of super-middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia is less clear-cut. Munguia has signed to fight Nikita Zon in Saudi Arabia on 31 October despite being ordered to face mandatory challenger Bektemir Melikuziev. The WBA initially said on social media that it had not approved the bout and would review the situation, and has yet to confirm whether it will sanction the fight.