Teofimo Lopez v Devin Haney is on August 16th

Yea didn't he quit working with a trainer because he couldn't pay him due to his money problems (gamache?) this was post Loma as well.

 

I kinda think Haney is all kinds of wrong for Teo. Teo's inability to fight effectively while leading on the front foot isn't just because he can't cut the ring off (there have been some very good front-foot fighters who almost exclusively work in straight lines, Errol Spence is a good example of this), and it isn't because of his very janky footwork (there have also been a lot of successful front-foot fighters with confused feet, just look at David Benavidez), but it's because he doesn't have much sense of positioning. Teofimo, even when he's at his best, gets himself out of position pretty regularly, sits at middle range too often without capitalising offensively, and doesn't circle around his opponent on the back-foot and instead either circles the ring or works in straight lines. He also looks pretty visibly uncomfortable on the front foot and doesn't adopt proper hand positioning or foot positioning when trying to walk a guy down (not that there is a "right" way of doing it, but Teo fails to really make his more unorthodox choices work for him). He keeps a low lead hand in a squared stances and tries to pressure with his back foot first then slides, meaning he isn't covering as much distance as he would if he adopted the traditional front foot step, back foot shuffle as is usually taught. But he also doesn't reap the benefits of this jankier kind of movement that guys like Canelo, Shakur, and Napoles do because he focuses on leading instead of countering when he's working like this, and doesn't control his opponent with feints or hand control like the aforementioned do. Teofimo is a haphazardly put together fighter, to put it simply, who gets into his own head, and whose pretty apparent mental health issues seem to affect his focus and emotionality in the ring.

On the other hand, Haney, for all his flaws, does have a lot of qualities which means he can capitalise on these issues. For one, Haney has much better feet, his stance is a bit odd in the sense that he keeps a pretty wide base but also is a bit uneven with how he balances his weight on either foot depending on his direction, but he does have good movement. His legs don't tire that much, he pivots effectively when needed, and he circles around his opponent instead of the ring to ensure that he's in position to punch. Teofimo has slow feet and his legs tire, he was able to keep up with Loma in the early going thanks to him pivoting with Loma but this went away down the stretch as Teo tired and Teo was also dealing with someone using pivots offensively, whereas Haney uses them defensively and won't be in punching range. I think Teo will get tired and annoyed at having to pivot with Haney if he does want to keep up with him, especially when he won't immediately have anything to hit when he does. Teo often gets caught between being too bladed to be an offensive threat and being too squared to defend properly, sometimes he makes it work for himself and shoulder rolls and catches and shoots very well, sometimes he can keep a solid stance, but he does have this problem. Haney doesn't really square up and stands three/quarters facing toward his opponent for the most part and gets bladed when he's on the defensive. This means that Haney is rarely available to be hit with the right hand, which is Teo's favourite counter. Haney is a very insular fighter. He fights within himself and doesn't allow his opponent to upset his game plan and doesn't get his energy from feeding off the crowd, and he proved as much against Ramirez. He stays disciplined behind the jab and he doesn't fight outside of himself or his rhythm if he knows all he had to do is stick and move. I think Haney is a flawed fighter in a number of ways, I worry where he is mentally after his showing against Ramirez, I don't think his father is a good trainer or that his team will tell him his flaws, and I think he's a pretty basic fighter who lacks much variety for the world championship standard (I think Hitchins does everything Haney does better than he himself does and is more varied fighter and a better athlete for reference, Hitchins vs Teofimo is the fight I did want to see because Hitchins is, by most measures, just better than Haney). In spite of this, we've seen how much Teo has struggled against movers, counter-punchers, and guys who keep him at range with a jab. Haney is who he is and isn't all that much beneath the surface imo, he's a good judge of distance, sticks and moves, and clinches. I don't think Haney needs to be much more than he is to beat Teo though, but he does have to watch his Ps and Qs.

 

More “personal” troubles with Teo. What else is new?

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This. I want Teo to win so badly, but Haneys style is awful for him. Teo is quick but he doesn’t have that left hook speed Ryan does, and Teo hasn’t proved to be a murderous puncher at 140.