Teofimo's Fork in the Road: The Ryan Garcia Money Fight or the Catterall Mandatory

Here we go again. A champion wants the big fight, a mandatory challenger wants what he's owed, and a sanctioning body is stuck in the middle holding the rulebook.

During DAZN's broadcast of Schofield-Bahdi on Saturday, Chris Mannix reported that Teofimo Lopez is appealing the WBA's order that he face Jack Catterall next. According to The Ring, Mannix added that Lopez feels strongly enough about it that he'd be willing to go to court. Nothing has been filed, and the appeal hasn't changed the ruling.

The clock is real. The WBA ruled on Sept. 22 that Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) must face Catterall (33-2, 14 KOs), and the two sides have until Oct. 22 to make a deal. BoxingNews24, which went through the WBA's published ruling, says that deadline is close of business Eastern time, and that if talks fail the WBA Championship Committee may order a purse bid with the president's approval. That's a possible next step, not something that happens automatically on deadline day.

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THE MONEY FIGHT

What Teofimo wants is Ryan Garcia. Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs, 1 NC) kept his WBC welterweight title with a second-round knockout of Conor Benn on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas and called for Lopez right afterward. Per The Ring, Lopez is looking at February or Cinco de Mayo weekend for that one.

Let's be honest about why. Teofimo-Ryan is a gate. It's two guys with big names, big mouths and big social followings, and it's a unification. It's the kind of fight that sells itself, and the purses would reflect it.

THE MANDATORY

Catterall is the opposite pitch. He's a tricky British southpaw who won the WBA "regular" title by beating Shakhram Giyasov in May at the Pyramids of Giza. He doesn't bring a huge American audience. What he brings is a real chance to beat you and make you look bad doing it.

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And he's done waiting. The WBA had already let Rolando Romero make one optional defense before facing the Giyasov-Catterall winner. Romero used it on Lopez and lost a majority decision on Aug. 22, and Lopez inherited the obligation along with the belt. Catterall has been here before, and he told Inside The Ring he's not taking step-aside money:

"There's not one ounce of me that will say yes to any step aside to let any unification happen," Catterall said. "I'm here. I've been in this position before years back waiting for [Josh] Taylor for undisputed, and kept getting sidetracked. There's not $1 that can persuade me to step aside to allow a unification bout. I'm here to fight."

Lopez's manager, Keith Connolly, kept it short on X, per BoxingNews24: "Let's see how it all plays out."

MY TAKE

I get it from Teofimo's side. Business is business, and the Garcia fight is the one that changes his bank account. But the rules were set before he ever stepped in with Romero. He took the belt knowing what came with it.

There are really only three ways out. He fights Catterall and risks the Garcia payday. He gives up the belt and fights Ryan without it, which takes some of the shine off a "unification." Or he convinces the WBA, or a judge, to bend. History says the third option is the longest shot.

So watch Oct. 22. If there's no deal and the WBA calls for a purse bid, we'll find out real fast how much a mandatory is worth. And yes, that's one we'll be tracking on Guess the Purse.

Sources: The Ring, BoxingNews24, BoxingNews24, Boxing 247