Teofimo Lopez scores scary and embarrassing win against Jaime Ortiz

Teofimo Lopez defeats Jemaine Ortiz via unanimous decision to retain his WBO super lightweight world champion belt

In a lackluster bout, Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamain Ortiz by unanimous decision at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas to retain the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super lightweight title.

Judge Steve Weisfeld gave a score of 117–111, while Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland gave a score of 115–113. This announcement generated a majority of excitement among the 6,206 spectators attending Michelob Ultra Arena.

“These fighters don’t want to come to the fight,” said Lopez, ESPN’s No. 1 junior lightweight. “If you’re not ready for this life, get out of my game. I’m a champion. I bleed for it, I sweat for it and I cry for it. Always.”

Neither boxer landed more punches: 78 for Lopez and 80 for Ortiz. Ortiz’s long jab sent Lopez into fits, and every time the champion closed the distance, Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) reset and refused to attack. This strategy was effective even if it was not aesthetically pleasing.

Although Ortiz did not want to be traded, Lopez did himself no favors with his strategy. Lopez primarily landed one punch at a time, stalking Ortiz rather than cutting across the ring, and did not aim for the body.

This was not new territory for Lopez. When he faced another skilled southpaw Sandor Martin in December 2022, Lopez again failed to cut the ring and was on the winning side of a disputed decision.

After that fight, Lopez was caught asking his father and trainer, “Do I still have it?”

After the way he performed in dominating Josh Taylor to become a two-division champion in June, the answer was a resounding yes. However, Lopez demonstrated Thursday night that he didn’t learn much from Martin’s performance; This time also no adjustment was made.

“It’s not a repeat because I still have it,” Lopez said. “Don’t Tell Me This Is Sandor Martin Part 2.”

Ortiz, a 27-year-old fighter from New England, gained recognition when he stopped Vasiliy Lomachenko in a competitive decision loss in October 2022. But as he did against Lomachenko, Ortiz faded down the stretch.

Lopez won the final three rounds on Thursday. If Ortiz had won one of the two scorecards of those three rounds, the fight would have ended in a draw.

“I think I won the fight,” said Ortiz, ESPN’s No. 8 lightweight, who moved up to 140 pounds for his first title shot. “What can I say, once again I came out with the short end of the stick. He couldn’t hit me… He wasn’t taking any shots at me… I always stay true to the fact that Who am I…..make some adjustments and come back for another shot at the title.”

Ortiz suffered a serious injury to his left eye as a result of the clash of heads in the seventh round, but his corner was able to quickly get the bleeding under control. And while his jab and footwork were impressive, there wasn’t any moment that stood out to the judges.

As Lopez pressed forward, even if it was ineffective aggression, he seemed to win over the judges.

The victory gave Lopez his first defense of the junior welterweight title. Lopez, one of boxing’s rising stars, defeated Lomachenko in October 2020 to capture the undisputed lightweight championship.

But he lost the title in his first defense, losing a decision to George Kambosos in ESPN’s 2021 Surprise of the Year.

“I’m the champion, I’m the king,” said the Honduras-born boxer. “You know what’s next for me? Glory. None of them want to fight me. I’m in a different category than (Terence Crawford) I will fight with.”

Keyshaw runs over ‘Sniper’ Pedraza

In the other fight headlining the card, Olympic silver medalist American Keyshawn Davis knocked out two-division champion Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza in the sixth round.

Davis (10-0-0, 7 KOs) began to impose his will in the third act, landing powerful combinations to Pedraza’s head and body. And while he seemed to cause the most damage with straight punches to the face, he probably generated more punishment by landing consistent body shots in the later rounds.

game

Keyshawn Davis promptly dispatched Jose Pedraza in the night’s co-feature

The American showed no mercy to the Puerto Rican and defeated him by TKO in the sixth round to become the WBO Intercontinental Lightweight Champion.

“Throughout this entire training camp I’ve said I’m the best at 135 pounds,” Davis said. “Everyone kept saying, you have to get the knockout… but I told them not to worry about it and just watch me work. And that’s exactly what happened. I won by knockout.”

Now, Davis has his sights set on Lopez.

“Teofimo has been talking a lot lately,” he admitted. “I’ll go up to 140 pounds to fight Teofimo, what about that?… You know how I come, you and your dad. We have to agree on this. I’ll go right up to 140 pounds, let’s go .And you are afraid, Teofimo”.

Pedraza, who returned to the lightweight division in hopes of winning another world title, lost to 29-6-1.

Card results for February 8 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas

• Teofimo Lopez Jr. G(DU-12/12) Jamine Ortiz, Lopez retain super lightweight titles

• Keyshawn Davis G (TKO-6/10) Jose Pedraza, lightweight

• George Acosta P(DU-8/8) Rene Tellez Giron, lightweight

•Javier Martínez G (DU-8/8) Raul Salomon, middleweight

•Abdullah Mason G(TKO-2/8) Benjamin Guermant, Super Lightweight

• Charlie Sheehy G(DU-8/8) Abdel Sauceda, lightweight

• Alan Garcia G(TKO-1/6) Tomas Ornelas, Ultra Light Weight

• Antonio Zepeda P(TKO-3/6) Lamir Isom Riley, Heavyweight

• Art Barrera Jr. G(TKO-1/4) Michael Portales, Super Lightweight

Information from Mike Coppinger and the AP was used in this report