Josh Taylor has confirmed that he will face Teofimo Lopez in New York City on June 10 in his first fight since controversially beating Jack Catterall last year.
The former undisputed champion clung on to his belts by the skin of his teeth after being dropped by Catterall in his homecoming fight back in February of 2022, but was unable to keep all but one of them during his time away from the ring since. He had been due to rematch his fellow Brit this year, but an injury cost the pair that second meeting.
And now Taylor will return to America for the first time since his undisputed title win to face former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez. The pair will meet on June 10 at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden with the Scot's super-lightweight WBO belt on the line.
"These are the kind of fights, all these big names in the sport that keep the motivation and the fire burning in my belly and give me that excitement and that buzz," Taylor told Sky Sports. The bout will be his first at the iconic New York venue after previously fighting at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as well as the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"The fire's clearly burning," he continued. "I'm really excited to be here and boxing in the Mecca of boxing. Madison Square Garden is where all the giants and all the legends of the sport have boxed in the past. Hopefully I can do this fight and I become a legend, a present legend."
For all intents and purposes, Lopez was an undisputed champion at lightweight during his reign with the unified WBA, WBO and IBF belts .The WBC 'franchise' title he won from Vasily Lomachenko was not recognised as a legitimate world title despite him having beaten a higher calibre of opponent than the true WBC champion Devin Haney, who is now undisputed.
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However, Taylor was a true undisputed champion a weight division up, which he promises will become a point of contention in the build-up. "He was a unified world champion at lightweight," Taylor continued. "He will say he was undisputed champion but unfortunately he wasn't. He should have been technically but he wasn't. So I'll wind him up about that.
"He's got a great style. You've got to give credit where credit's due. He went out and beat Lomachenko who at the time was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet and he went out and won. He's a very good fighter. Stylistically I think it's a very good fight for myself as well with the way he comes to fight. He comes looking for you and doesn't take a backwards step."
The bout will be put on by the pair's American promoter Bob Arum, and aired on Sky Sports in the early hours of June 11. “This is a super fight on both sides of the pond," Arum said in a press release. "The junior welterweight king in Josh Taylor stepping up against the young, dynamic Teofimo Lopez. I cannot wait for these two supreme talents to step into the Madison Square Garden ring. It’s going to be a special night.”
