Dan Rafael reports that, as previously reported here, quasi-undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr are headed to a Feb. 18 purse bid. Per the sanctioning body’s regulations, this will result in a 65/35 split between champion and challenger.
The pair can continue to negotiate until then and cancel the auction if they come to terms in time, but Bob Arum was quite certain in his comments to Michael Woods that they’d make no further inroads, as both men’s managers were making “crazy” demands.
I’d say this is good news for Kambosos (19-0, 10 KO), who managed to wrangle a notably higher purse the last time he went to a bid. He’s the B-side and, despite his skills, almost certainly boats just a fraction of Lopez’s (16-0, 12 KO) public profile, at least outside of his native Australia. 65/35 is nothing to sneeze at, and if Lopez wants to keep his belt, it’s either accept this fight or cobble together a unification match.
