WBA President Undercuts Teofimo Lopez’s Catterall Claim

The British southpaw reposted a July 9 message from WBA president Gilberto Mendoza that explicitly named both fighters and stated that the winner had to face him next.

The timing and wording weaken Lopez’s argument that the requirement belonged only to Romero. Mendoza made the statement six weeks before Lopez captured the WBA welterweight title by majority decision on August 22. The obligation was described as applying to the winner rather than Romero alone.

Teofimo recently argued that he was not involved in the agreement requiring Romero to face Catterall within 180 days. His position was that beating Romero created a new championship situation because the original paperwork carried Romero’s name.