While Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez are in talks to collide early next year, it could be that their hoped-for unification match is not sanctioned as such.

As things stand, Lopez is the reigning WBA welterweight champion following his clash with Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romerowho he dethroned with a majority decision victory in August.

Then, the following month, Garcia retained his WBC 147lb title – which he had acquired by dethroning Mario Barrios in February – with a second-round finish over Conor Benn.

But while the two Americans are now targeting a showdown on February 6, a refusal to face mandatory challenger Jack Catterall could lead to Lopez getting stripped of his belt.

Speaking to IFL TVCatterall’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, seemed confident that the WBA will stand by its ruling and award his client a full world title shot, or just simply elevate him from ‘regular’ to ‘super’ champion.

“The WBA made their decision. They ordered the fight [and] Team Teofimo Lopez complained. They said: ‘We’d like you to reconsider; we’d like to look at having a unification.’

“And people like [Lopez’ manager] Keith Connolly say: ‘A unification always supersedes a mandatory.’ [But] not when [the mandatory has] already been ordered, and not when there’s a backlog of about three years.”

In terms of the “backlog”, Hearn is referring to the fact that previous champions, such as Romero, were able to skip past their mandatory challengers.

The Matchroom promoter therefore feels that Catterall occupies a strong position, whether he ends up facing Lopez or is elevated to WBA ‘super’ champion.

As for a potential clash between Lopez and Garcia, Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger has reported that the fight is likely to take place in New York or Las Vegas, regardless of any ruling by the WBA.

“[I] would be surprised if Garcia-Teofimo didn’t take place next. [February 6] is the targeted date right now as talks continue. The WBA decision won’t impact talks and neither will any prospect of a Floyd Mayweather fight. That, in the unlikely event it happens, would take place after Teo.”

Would be surprised if Garcia-Teofimo didn’t take place next. Feb. 6 is the targeted date right now as talks continue. The WBA decision won’t impact talks and neither will any prospect of a Floyd Mayweather fight. That, in the unlikely event it happens, would take place after Teo. https://t.co/j5yhkIT6KL

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) October 25, 2026

Indeed, Garcia has been linked to a bizarre fight with Mayweather but, according to Coppinger, it remains unlikely that they will collide anytime soon.

Tim Bradley jumped all over O’Shaquie Foster’s victory over Emanuel Navarrete, turning it into direct ammunition against Shakur StevensonGervonta Davisand the modern fighter mindset. His critique cuts right to the sport’s biggest problem: stars demanding Floyd Mayweather paydays without ever delivering the matchups that created Mayweather’s empire in the first place.

Foster became Bradley’s prime exhibit for what happens when someone takes real risks. Bradley loved Foster’s aggressive opening, smart in-fight adjustments, and sharp defense against Navarrete. Then he immediately aimed his fire up the ladder.

“Now you see why Shakur Stevenson didn’t want no action. Now you see why. That’s why,” Bradley said on his channel. “Yeah, Tank Davis, you ain’t going to want none either.”

Bradley did not point to leaked contracts or turn down paperwork to back those claims. Foster looking elite against Navarrete does not prove rivals actively ducked him. Still, that performance makes it almost impossible for top contenders to shrug Foster off as irrelevant.

Bradley delivered his sharpest hit when breaking down purse entitlement.

“Get that whole Floyd Mayweather up out of your mind,” Bradley said. “The money going to come with the challenge.”

Mayweather earned monster paydays only after grinding through titleholders, cleaning out contenders, and breaking box office records with Oscar De La Hoya. Copying Mayweather’s late-career financial demands without doing the front-end dirty work leads straight to overpaying for weak fights.

Promoters help fuel the mess. Once a company pays a star millions to beat overmatched opponents, it locks in a price tag that makes threatening matchups impossible to make. Getting that same fighter to accept less cash for higher danger becomes a lost cause.

Still, Bradley misses a vital point about the business. Foster cannot keep taking high-risk, low-reward assignments on the vague promise that cash might follow someday. His performance ought to give his team the leverage to secure major paydays right now.

Bradley even likened Foster’s ring intelligence to Terence Crawford, spotlighting his footwork, counter traps, and seamless rhythm changes. He capped it off by telling Davis to step up and “fight somebody that’s real.”

The ball sits squarely in the fans’ court. If Foster only earns polite pats on the back while cautious stars keep collecting nine-figure checks for soft touches, the sport is guaranteeing the exact culture Bradley hates.

Sebastian Fundora’s towering stature is frequently billed as a nightmare puzzle for Jaron “Boots” Ennis. His gritty scrap against Ermal Hadribeaj exposed a deeper issue: height means little if you lack the hand speed and sharp timing to protect it.

Shawn Porter zeroed in on those deficiencies while breaking down Fundora’s October 17 win alongside Hadribeaj. The unheralded challenger slipped past the WBC junior middleweight champion’s reach all night, causing chaos until Fundora finally halted him with one tick remaining in round 12.

“He couldn’t time you last night,” Porter told Hadribeaj Porter’s channel. “You were coming after him, and there was not one moment where he saw you coming.”

Porter mentioned Timothy Bradley’s note that Fundora’s father deliberately schooled him in phone-booth infighting, knowing shorter foes would inevitably crowd him. Preparing for the trenches makes tactical sense. It does nothing to develop range control or a punishing perimeter game.

“You don’t have natural speed with the jab. You don’t have natural timing with the one-two,” Porter pointed out.

That gap undermines Fundora’s physical gifts. An 80-inch reach should turn the outside into a minefield, yet Hadribeaj walked into chest range round after round.

Labeling Fundora an inside specialist lets him off the hook. Smothering a foe by choice after dictating terms from the outside is one thing. Living on the inside because you lack the tools to keep opponents off your chest is entirely different. Porter’s critique puts Fundora squarely in that second camp.

Hadribeaj also smothered Fundora so effectively that the champion lost leverage on his trademark uppercuts. Porter observed that while a few broke through, the challenger took away the arc and velocity that crushed earlier rivals.

That pattern should set off alarm bells for Fundora’s camp ahead of a clash with Ennis.

Hadribeaj was an overlooked mandatory, not a pound-for-pound technician, yet he repeatedly forced the champion into disorganized exchanges.

Ennis would not have to wage a simple war of attrition. Boots could exploit those same entry lanes with explosive combinations, fluid stance switches, and evasive angles before Fundora resets his feet. Breaching Fundora’s perimeter would simply trigger a much heavier assault.

Hadribeaj maintains that Fundora’s rare height might still trouble Ennis. His own 12 rounds offered the opposite verdict: a modest puncher penetrated Fundora’s defenses at will.

Boots would still have to respect the champion’s durability, heavy inside clubs, and unrelenting output. Fundora eventually broke Hadribeaj through pure grit, and absorbing that type of heat drains any gas tank.

Fundora cannot gamble on elite punchers gassing out before his defensive gaps catch up to him. Halting Hadribeaj protected his belt, but it never answered Porter’s questions about how effortlessly he was reached.