Josh Taylor is not about to parrot what he feels is a false narrative.

The undisputed 140-pound Scottish champion took exception to Teofimo Lopez’s recent comment on social media that he “will become undisputed again,” with “again” being the operative word.

Lopez became the top dog of the lightweight division upon defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko in October of 2020, earning the IBF, WBO, WBA, and the WBC’s “Franchise” belts. Lomachenko had relinquished the WBC title proper in exchange for the franchise designation before the Lopez fight; the WBC title proper belongs to Devin Haney.

For that reason, Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) has long contended that the “undisputed” label was a complete misnomer, even though Lopez has advertised himself as such up until last November, when he lost his belts to George Kambosos in an upset at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) won a split decision.

After the bout, the Las Vegas-based Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) underwent a life threatening health experience, compelling him to make the decision to fight at 140 – Taylor’s division – moving forward.

“Again? Becoming undisputed, again? Taylor told IFL TV when asked about Lopez’s remark. “Yeah, I’ve seen that. Well, the thing is he was never undisputed in the first place, so, he’s gonna have to try at some point.”

Taylor unified the 140-pound division last May with a unanimous decision over Jose Ramirez at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The Scotsman is scheduled to defend his belts against Brit Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

A Taylor-Lopez fight should be a feasible match to make, at least on paper, given that both fighters are promoted by Top Rank Inc. Of course, as Taylor puts it, Lopez needs to prove himself in the division first before he gets a shot at his titles. Top Rank has a host of top 140-pound contenders that it promotes, including Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs), Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs), Jose Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs), and Arnold Barboza Jr. (26-0, 10 KOs).

“He’s got a long queue ahead of him to get that fight,” Taylor said of Lopez. “So he can wait all he wants, bark all he wants.”