Promoter Bob Arum says he hasn't given up trying to arrange a fight between Teofimo Lopez and Jaron 'Boots' Ennis in early 2025. He wants to arrange a fight between Lopez and IBF light heavyweight champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The fight Arum wants
If Ennis-Lopez is to happen, Arum will have to make a big offer to entice Boots and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to accept it. Philadelphia is still focused on fighting unification against one of the 147 champions.
This must be a nightmare for Hearn, who signed a multi-fight deal with Ennis in April earlier this year. He fought David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian twice in low-level contests that failed to generate much interest.
Boots turned down a move up to 154 to challenge WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on February 22, and is also reportedly not interested in fighting Teofimo, even though he would make a lot of money.
“We are still continuing that fight. We would love for that fight to happen. People talk to Ennis people. We want to make as big a fight as possible for Teofim after the beginning of the year,” said Bob Arum Fight Hub TVabout wanting to arrange a fight between Teofimo Lopez and IBF welterweight champion Jaron 'Boots' Ennis for early 2025.
“If it's Ennis, the best place for that fight is Madison Square Garden. He is so good that they don't want to fight him (Teofimo). We offered Haney a fight, and Haney didn't want it. We will find a great fight for Teofim. He's a big talent and a big personality, and he's going to do very well at the box office and on PPV.
“We're all set. It's all about the opponent and his people. I'm here in Saudi Arabia, so I'm not working on it, but the guys at home, Morrett and Jeremy, are working on it every day. I like Telofimo because he's a great talent, but it's definitely going to be a very close fight that's going to generate a lot of interest,” Arum said of the match between Boots Ennis and Ortiz.
If Arum can't make the Ennis-Ortiz fight, he'll have to consider options for Teofimo because. He hasn't had an interesting match since his 2020 fight against Vasiliy Lomachenko at 20.
“Maybe Haney, but it doesn't seem like he's really interested in the fight, Haney,” Arum said when asked what the biggest fight is for Teofim. “We'll see when we get back. We're all going to get together and see who's the best guy available and we're going to fight him,” Arum said.