WBA Tells Lopez He Can Apply to Fight Garcia First

Teofimo Lopez may get to fight Ryan Garcia before he has to face Jack Catterall. Mike Coppinger reported that the WBA told the parties Lopez may ask for an exception that would let him face the WBC welterweight champion.

A February date against a November clock

February 6 is the date under discussion for Lopez and Garcia. A unification still needs the WBA's approval.

The clock on the Catterall order is already running. When the WBA reaffirmed the order on November 11, it opened a fresh 10-calendar-day window for the two sides to agree a deal or offer an alternative. If talks fail, or one camp declines to negotiate, either side can request a purse bid.

The WBA's original 180-day timetable pointed to November 19. Catterall won the vacant WBA Regular title fight against Shakhram Giyasov on May 23, and the terms called for the Super champion, Rolly Romero, to face the winner within 180 days.

How the order got here

Romero took the WBA welterweight title from Garcia on May 2, 2025. That October the WBA ordered him to face Giyasov, with a 30-day negotiation period. He held the belt for more than 15 months and the Giyasov defense never happened.

In May 2026 the WBA made Romero its Super champion and set Catterall against Giyasov for the vacant Regular belt. Romero was allowed one optional defense inside the 180 days. Lopez beat him by majority decision on August 22 and inherited the Catterall obligation.

On September 22 the WBA ordered Lopez to fight Catterall, and the camps had until October 22 to talk.

Hearn's threat and Lopez's leverage

Catterall's promoter, Eddie Hearn, said this week he would take legal action if the WBA lets Lopez keep the belt and fight Garcia ahead of Catterall. "I would sue them immediately," Hearn said on Inside the Ring. He had already predicted that Lopez would vacate the belt if the WBA insisted on the Catterall fight.

There is also a dispute over paperwork. The WBA said in its November ruling that Lopez's team had not yet submitted a formal request for a unification permit. Mannix reported the team's claim that it filed a request on November 5. Sports Illustrated saw a copy.

The belt matters to Lopez at the negotiating table. Holding it lets his side present Garcia with a two-belt unification between champions, and it gives the team another argument for a bigger share of the purse. Catterall's position is the opposite: the same belt is the one the WBA told him he would fight for within 180 days of his May win.

Source: Boxing News 24