Teofimo Lopez is targeting the winner of Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn for a welterweight unification over a defense of his WBA title against Jack Catterall. The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported, citing Lopez’s manager Keith Connolly.
Brooklyn native Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) is the newly crowned WBA “Super” champion, having claimed the title against Rolando Romero by majority decision in August.
Britain’s Catterall (33-2, 14 KOs) holds the WBA “Regular” title that he won in May by unanimous decision against Shakhram Giyasov.
Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) of Victorville, California, is scheduled to make the first defense of his WBC 147-pound title against British challenger Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Liam Paro (28-1, 16 KOs) is the division’s current IBF champion, while San Francisco’s Devin Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) is the reigning WBO champion.