Instead, Teofimo skips the line entirely. Winning that WBA strap from Rolly would give him a massive bargaining chip for fights against Devin Haney or the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn winner. It turns a non-performance against Shakur into a golden ticket to the biggest paydays in the sport, all while bypassing the mandatory contenders who actually earned their spot.
The belt becomes a cheat code. Promoters and networks will push the “three-division champion” tag, ignore the soft route and the Shakur beating, and hand him top-tier leverage in multi-million dollar purse splits.
There was no rebuilding fight at 14
