Teofimo Lopez is set to gain up to four times his current following when he faces George Kambosos Jr, Triller boss Ryan Kavanaugh believes.
Triller claimed the promotional rights to host Lopez’s mandatory title defence against Kambosos Jr after winning Thursday’s purse bid with an offer of $6.018m, beating Matchroom Boxing’s bid of $3.506m & Lopez’s promoter, Top Rank who came in with a $2.315m offer.
Lopez, who won the the WBA ‘Super’, WBO, IBF, WBC ‘Franchise’ and Ring Magazine Lightweight belts after defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko in October, will receive 65% of the purse, with 20% going to Top Rank, whilst the Australian, IBF mandatory will get 35% of the pot.
The fight is set to take place in May on pay-per-view and will likely mark the third event hosted by Fight Club league, which was launched by Triller, following Mike Tyson’s exhibition with Roy Jones Jr in November and Jake Paul’s clash with Ben Askren, which will take place on April 17.
Early reports suggest the showdown could land on an undercard of a potential meeting between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, who are in discussions for a third fight.
“This fight was a really important one for us to have,” Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO OF Proxima Media, which owns Triller told BoxingScene.com.
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“Having the undisputed lightweight champion on Triller was something we were really hoping to get.
“Our view is that we want to make it look and feel different. We also want to make sure we have the legitimacy of real fights and building a real Fight Club and not just something that is built around social media.
“Teofimo will come in with a certain amount of followers and leave with hopefully three-to-four times that amount. That’ll be good for Bob [Arum, Lopez’s promoter] too. We think we’re great for everyone in the sport.”
Had to risk it all just to win BIG! God don’t make no mistakes. #TheTakeover #StayBlessed 🙏🍾 pic.twitter.com/jUsUkKHKNc
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) February 25, 2021
Kambosos Jr, 27, became the IBF mandatory after beating Lee Selby in London in October, with the governing body officially ordering the fight on January 9 and giving both teams 30-days to reach an agreement.
Lopez, 23, was reportedly dissatisfied with the $1.25m he was offered by Top Rank – his minimum contract guarantee, feeling his worth was far greater. This lead to a purse bid, which was delayed from the original February 18 date, due to a snowstorm to February 26.
‘The Takeover’ will therefore fight outside of Top Rank’s broadcast partner, ESPN following Triller’s victory, although Lopez’s promoter and Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum has welcomed the streaming app’s involvement.
“It’s terrific and wonderful that Triller put a bid the way they did,” Arum told BoxingScene.com.
“I hope it works out for them because we made a lot of money in five minutes. Almost $800,000 is pretty good money. Sh–, that’s really great, because Lopez vs. Kambosos is not a premier attraction.
“Kavanaugh is absolutely great for boxing.
“He’s not doing anything bad for the sport. He’s done numbers in the past with Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. that nobody else has done in boxing on pay-per-view. He’s not a competitor though.”
Lopez remains under contract with Top Rank and can conceivably return to ESPN after this fight, however Arum has made it clear that the Brooklyn man will not receive a fee near the amount offered by Triller.
“If he wins and comes back to us and wants the same money that he got before, the answer is ‘no.’ So he sits out for a while,” Arum added in his interview with BoxingScene.com.
“You can’t pay what you don’t have. He either fights, or he doesn’t fight. It’s easy.
“Teofimo has a contract with us. There will be regular negotiations on his fights. Maybe Triller is so happy with Lopez they will give us a big number and buy out our contract with Lopez, which is fine also.”
“The $6 million from Triller, right there, says that Top Rank doesn’t value the best fighter on their roster. I look forward to my title defense against George Kambosos,” Lopez told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel.
