George Kambosos has yet to agree to move his lightweight title fight against Teofimo Lopez to Oct. 16, Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh told ESPN on Tuesday, jeopardizing the fight’s organizing rights.
“The same contract that Teofimo signed is sitting across from Kambosos for signing the fight for the 16th,” Kavanaugh said. “Our condolences on the death of his grandfather; we understand that this is a difficult week for him, as the funeral is tomorrow.”
“Clearly given his family situation, it is a better date for him …. Triller is not going to pay anything extra or make additional arrangements, as he did not do with Teofimo … Triller is already paying him about 10 times what he has done in the past. If for some reason he didn’t make this deal with us, he would earn a lot less. We are confident that this fight is happening and that he will sign the contract soon. “
Sources told ESPN that Kambosos was seeking more than $ 300,000 to sign the contract. The Kambosos team declined to comment.
Kambosos and Lopez, the undisputed 135-pound champion, signed contracts to fight on October 4 at New York’s Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Triller then decided to move the lawsuit to October 16, wanting to avoid competition with Monday Night Football. However, the organization needs both fighters to approve the date change as contracts were submitted with the New York State Athletic Commission and the International Boxing Federation (IBF), the sanctioning body that ordered the fight.
López signed a contract that allows the fight to move into the following week, his father and coach, Teófimo López Sr., told ESPN If Kambosos (19-0, 16 KOs) does not budge, he could force the IBF to testify Triller in absentia, and the rights to the fight would revert to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport, who would be expected to host the fight on DAZN.
Triller won the February bid with a commitment of $ 6.018 million, beating Hearn ($ 3.506 million) and Top Rank ($ 2.315 million). Lopez, the champion, is entitled to 65% percent and is expected to earn $ 3.9117 million; Kambosos must earn $ 2,106,300. Both would be the best paydays of their careers. If Triller defaults and Hearn elects to exercise his rights to the fight, Lopez’s payday would drop to $ 2.2789 million, with Kambosos’ earnings falling to $ 1.2271 million.
Of course, López and Kambosos could seek to recoup that money in a lawsuit against Triller if the contract to fight on October 4 is breached.
Triller has already canceled his reservation with Madison Square Garden and lost a $ 100,000 deposit.
“I want the best for my son and I think this is the big stage for him. Fighting on October 4 would have killed us,” said Lopez Sr. “Fighting on a Monday night, everyone would have laughed at us. I think which is the right thing to do. “
“Money is not everything.” “The money will come. The exhibition is more important than anything in the world right now.”
Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) has not fought since the best performance of his career in October, a decision win over Vasiliy Lomachenko, then a pound-for-pound number one, to capture all four belts at 135 pounds. The 24-year-old Brooklyn native, who would enjoy a homecoming fight at the Barclays Center, is ESPN’s No. 1 lightweight boxer and No. 5 pound-for-pound boxer.
Kambosos, who resides in Sydney, Australia, is ESPN’s No. 9 lightweight. He won a title eliminator against Lee Selby in October to become the mandatory challenger.
Lopez is in the middle of a multi-year deal with Top Rank, which has an exclusive deal with ESPN. After unsuccessful negotiations between the boxer and his promoter, the rights to the fight went to a tender. The fight was scheduled for June 19 in Miami before Lopez tested positive for COVID-19 days before the confrontation.
If the fight moves to October 16, it would be at least the fifth date change for the event.