The never-ending saga of the Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos title fight has taken another turn. Multiple outlets have reported that Triller and its CEO Ryan Kavanaugh are have found another location for the title fight.
“We are currently working with the regulatory bodies to bring this fight to Saudi [Arabia] or UAE [United Arab Emirates] in October,” Kavanaugh said.
“We think it’s the perfect place for such a landmark fight.”
The fight was original scheduled to take place in Miami two months ago, but it was postponed after Lopez tested positive for COVID-19. Then, reports indicated that the fight would take place would be rescheduled for August in Kambosos Jr.’s native country, Australia. However, COVID-19 protocols would have required Lopez and his team to quarantine upon arrival, something they were unwilling to do. Ultimately, the IBF intervened and the fight was moved out of Australia. Saudia Arabia and the UAE have more lenient COVID-19 protocols that would not require Lopez and his team to quarantine upon arrival.
“Can’t wait to see the details [of the potential fight],” Lopez’s manager, David McWater, told ESPN.
“We were always willing to go anywhere we didn’t have to quarantine.”
In order for the fight to include Lopez’s IBF lightweight title, contracts must be submitted by August 24. If everything goes according to plan, the fight will take place on October 17 and air on Triller.
If contracts are not submitted on August 24 or the fight does not take place in October, Triller would lose the fight and it would go to the next highest bidder, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. In that case, the fight would likely air on DAZN this fall.
Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh told @MikeCoppinger that he’s now planning to stage #LopezKambosos in the Middle East this October. pic.twitter.com/Kl69PbpvxI
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) August 15, 2021
