This Thursday night, the 2 weight lineal champion Teofimo Lopez returns to motion as he’s slated to tackle Jamaine Ortiz to defend his WBO Super Lightweight title. Lopez dazzled fans on his rise to stardom and now his story will proceed.
The Rise of Teofimo Lopez
The rise of Teofimo Lopez gave the look of destiny. As his record improved to 12-0, 13-0 and better, it seemed inevitable that he would come head to head with the very best pound for pound fighter in boxing: Vasyl Lomachenko.
But at only 23, no one really knew how good Lopez was. We knew he was good, but could he topple the complicated and insanely talented Lomachenko? That’s when he was tapped to face Richard Commey.
Lomachenko had three of the titles at lightweight and wanted a fourth. Richard Commey had that fourth, the IBF Lightweight title. Lopez swooped in and beat Masayoshi Nakatani to get the shot at Commey’s belt.
The fight with Richard Commey wouldn’t last long. The young Brooklyn fighter put the champion away in two rounds. After the fight, Lomachenko, the large, stepped into the ring. A photograph op took place nevertheless it was clear what was on everyone’s mind.
Unification. Undisputed.
Unfortunately, Lomachenko was booked to fight Luke Campbell next. Lomachenko won that fight but Lopez was there, waiting for his shot on the pound for pound king. That fight would eventually be made in September of 2020.
Will there be a takeover?
Plenty of boxing heads were mixed on Lomachenko vs. Lopez. We knew how good Lopez was in theory. But we knew for certain that Vasyl Lomachenko was the true deal.
But this was all theory. While much of the pre-fight predictions were fairly even handed, that didn’t insulate Teofimo Lopez from all of the doubters.
“I believe Lopez is a superb fighter. But Lomachenko is healthier,” said Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
“I believe Lomachenko,” Jose Zepeda told Boxing Scene. “He’s too skillful. I’d say that Teofimo has that puncher’s probability. But on the other hand, Loma never drops his hands.”
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, had no faith in Lopez. “That child shouldn’t be going to beat Lomachenko…He doesn’t have enough experience. It’s so much to take care of Lomachenko.”
But Teofimo Lopez was prepared. In a 12 round battle, Lopez took the lead early with a seven round lead across all scorecards. It was that pivotal twelfth round that Lopez took back over the fight and the choice over the surging Lomachenko. Lopez was the champ, undisputed. He dethroned the king.
The autumn and return
The win over Vasyl Lomachenko had many begging for Lopez to return to motion. But a full yr would pass before he returned to the ring. COVID-19 was in full swing and the fight was delayed multiple times on account of a failed COVID test. Relationships between he and Top Rank Boxing, his promoter, also curdled. Lopez was offered $1.25 million to face George Kambosos Jr., the IBF mandatory for Lopez.
The fight went to purse bid and Triller won the staging rights. The pandemic caused controversy after they tried to book the fight in ultra-locked down Australia. Lopez and the IBF ruled against the move. Other venues were floated and eventually, Recent York City was the place for the fight to happen. However the shenanigans weren’t over yet.
After spending $10 million in promoting the fight between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr., Triller pulled out of the fight. Behind the scenes, George Kambosos was demanding extra money to relocate to the USA. Because the dates kept changing, pressures arose and Kambosos stopped correspondence with Triller all together.
As Triller exited the deal, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stepped in and was broadcast on DAZN. The tragedy was still not over for the young Lopez, who was out for over a yr.
In the primary round, disaster struck for Lopez when Kambosos knocked him down in the primary round. Lopez fought timid and allowed Kambosos to press the pace. Kambosos ended up winning the titles from Lopez. Identical to that, with out a defense, Teofimo Lopez lost every little thing.
Nine more months would go by before Lopez would return to motion. This time, he announced his move to super lightweight. He took on Pedro Campa. That fight showed a patient Lopez, though an uninspiring performance, but a seventh round knockout. His next fight was against the tricky Sandor Martin, a split decision win. He was then scheduled to face Josh Taylor in June of 2023. Taylor was widely seen as the very best at 140 and Lopez was facing one other tricky southpaw.
That fight, nonetheless, was an absolute masterclass from Teofimo Lopez. The WBO World Super Lightweight belt was on the road. Throughout the 12 round unanimous decision, Lopez placed on a blinding performance that reminded fans just how good of a fighter the young man was. He consistently worked in all areas against the southpaw; the within angle, the skin angle, within the pocket, at range. There wasn’t a single moment of the fight where Teofimo Lopez wasn’t in complete control.
The duty at hand
This Thursday, Teofimo Lopez is facing off with Jamaine Ortiz. Ortiz is a switch hitter and gave Vasyl Lomachenko an incredibly tough fight in 2022. While he lost that fight, “The Technician” really challenged Lomachenko in ways not seen for the reason that Lopez fight.
Within the fight before Lomachenko, Jamaine Ortiz defeated Jamel Herring as well. He was quite the tested fighter despite his meager 16-0-1 record. One win at super lightweight later and Jamaine Ortiz is back with one other tough challenge.
Teofimo Lopez has a tricky task at hand. Ortiz has the identical height and half an inch longer reach. But Lopez isn’t backing down. He never has. He defeated the highest pound for pound fighter on the earth. Jamaine Ortiz is a superb fighter but not one of the pressure that got here with fighting Lomachenko comes with Ortiz.
Now Teofimo Lopez has his recent goal: Terence Crawford. Will “The Takeover” repeat his past magic and, once more, topple the highest pound for pound fighter on the earth? This weekend is step one to that. Beat Jamaine Ortiz. Beat Devin Haney. Develop into undeniable. That’s what Lopez did up to now. He goals to do this again.
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