Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr could head to Saudi Arabia or UAE

The long, increasingly boring saga that is Triller trying to figure out a way to actually get Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr in the ring has its latest update.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reports that Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh is speaking with groups in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about hosting the fight, and unlike the idea to put the fight in Australia — which is now a no-go after an IBF ruling — Team Lopez say they’re on board and willing to go along with that IBF ruling, which stated simply that the fight had to be held somewhere that does not require quarantine.

Triller surprised everyone by overpaying for this IBF-mandated fight back in February, and various attempts to actually stage the event have come up empty. June 5 was moved to June 19, June was scrapped when Lopez got COVID, Aug. 14 didn’t happen, Sept. 11 didn’t happen, and Oct. 17 in Australia didn’t happen.

In the meantime, Lopez made up with his actual promoters at Top Rank, signing an amended deal that will see him return to ESPN airwaves going forward.

The IBF’s ruling also said that contracts must be submitted by Aug. 24, so that’s 10 days from now, and the fight must be held by Oct. 17.

If and when the fight happens, Lopez (16-0, 12 KO) will be defending the WBA and WBO lightweight titles in addition to the IBF belt. Kambosos (19-0, 10 KO) will be a heavy underdog in the fight.