The sport’s two reigning lightweight title claimants had plenty to say upon crossing paths.

Teofimo Lopez Jr. and Devin Haney wound up stealing the show in Fresno, with their war of words commanding the attention of everyone at ringside even in the wake of a major upset in the ring. Mere minutes after watching Spain’s Sandor Martin score a stunning majority decision win over former four-division titlist Mikey Garcia, a face-to-face meeting between Lopez, Haney and their fathers heightened anticipation for a hoped-for showdown between the unbeaten lightweights.

“Y’all fake it ‘till ya make it. Y’all don’t want the fight,” Lopez insisted once face to face with Haney while ringside for the preceding DAZN show Saturday evening at Chukchansi Park in Fresno. “Y’all don’t want the fight.”

“I want to make the fight,” Haney quickly replied. “We can make it happen.”

“We can definitely make it happen. My thing is, y’all do all this, but y’all don’t really want to fight,” claims Lopez.

The accusation didn’t sit well with Haney (26-0, 15KOs).

“Man, you don’t want the fight,” the WBC titlist replied.

Both need to first make separate title fights happen in the fourth quarter of 2021, even if an undisputed lightweight championship would be the more ideal showdown.

Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-0, 12KOs)—the reigning lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight king—remains obligated to honor his IBF mandatory title challenge versus number-one contender George Kambosos Jr. (19-0, 10KOs). The bout has been on hold and rescheduled for nearly all of 2021, having been postponed on five separate occasions before falling completely out of the control of Triller Fight Club who defaulted on a $6,018,000 purse bid from this past February. The fight is now in the promotional control of Matchroom Boxing, Haney’s promoter who claimed the rights with the next highest bid amount of $3,506,000. BoxingScene.com has learned that November 27 is the target date for such a fight, confirming a breaking news report Friday from ESPN.com, with the fight to air on DAZN from a location to be determined.

Less than a week later, Haney (26-0, 15KOs) is due to make the fourth defense of his WBC lightweight title atop a December 3 DAZN show. Matchroom has a hold placed at MGM Grand Garden Arena, with chairman Eddie Hearn and Haney himself making an on-air plea on Saturday for interim WBC titlist Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz (31-1-1, 15KOs) to accept their most recent offer for the fight. Diaz is without an opponent after Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18KOs) withdrew from their planned November 27 clash in Los Angeles.

While both have a general time frame for their upcoming bouts, the uncertainty of it all doesn’t sit well with anyone involved—especially if they are serious about facing one another.

“When are you gonna fight Kambosos,” questioned Bill Haney, Devin’s father and trainer.

“[Lopez and Haney] can fight in f-----’ January,” insisted Teofimo Lopez Sr., the father and head trainer for his son. “Let’s do that.”

“So let’s make this fight,” insisted the elder Haney, talking over the sons’ continued and explicit verbal exchange.

“We gotta stop talking this sh!t and do this sh!t inside the ring, bro,” vowed the elder Lopez, who repeatedly attempted to pull his son away from the ringside conversation.

The reigning lineal lightweight king felt the need to say his peace and defend his honor.

“I just want to let them know what I’m all about,” noted Lopez to his father before turning his attention to his heated divisional rival. “You don’t wanna do it. You don’t wanna do it.”

The repeated claims continued to irk Haney.

“You a p-ssy, man,” Haney repeatedly shot back.

The line seemed to strike a nerve.

“I ain’t a p-ssy, n---a,” Lopez stated. “Never been, not on my blood. Never been. I’m from New York, n---a. You’ve been fed from a silver spoon your whole life. I know that sh!t.”

“Make the fight, then,” insisted Haney.

“Sign the f-----’ contract, then,” replied Lopez.

“What contract,” Haney exclaimed in wonderment. “What contract you want me to sign?”

The conversation further devolved into a shouting match over one that never took place. It was insisted by Lopez’s Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum that a meeting was due to take place in Las Vegas to discuss the possibility of such a fight, only for the Haneys to allegedly no-show the session.

Lopez sought answers as to why that was the case.

“What happened to the meeting with Bob,” Lopez repeatedly asked. “What happened to the meeting with Bob? What happened to the meeting with Bob? What happened to the meeting with Bob? What happened to the meeting with Bob? What happened to the meeting with Bob? Exactly! What happened to the meeting with Bob?”

More words were exchanged before Haney once again called for an actual in-ring fight to come of the madness.

“Anytime. Anytime,” vowed Lopez, before capturing the attention of his rival’s father.

“So it’s a deal,” questioned Bill Haney.

His son’s effort to close the deal with a handshake was met with resistance.

“You a p-ssy man,” Devin Haney once again claimed. “You won’t even shake on it.”

“I’ll shake with your father, ‘cause he the boss up in here,” Claimed Lopez.

“He’s the boss,” shouted Bill Haney, pointing to his son.

“We run it. We run it. We run this,” insisted Devin Haney.

That one didn’t at all sit well with the other side, as Lopez is the recognized true champion of the division.

“You ain’t runnin’ sh!t, bro,” Teofimo Sr. claimed. “We run sh!t, bro.”

“You’re wack, bro,” Teofimo Jr. claimed of Devin. “I was born for this sh!t. That’s the difference.”

“You’re cap. You’re cap, n---a,” alleged Devin Haney. “You’re cap. You’re cap.”

It’s all cap until any of the top lightweights actually get in the ring. Until then, at least it’s entertainment as their respective teams continue to work on the business side of the equation.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox