Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by unanimous decision on Feb. 8 to retain his WBO and The Ring junior welterweight titles.
‘The Takeover’ continues.
With the win, Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) earns his first title defense at 140 pounds and is now 3-0 since suffering his first career loss in 2021.
It wasn’t pretty, he failed to dominate, and he heard plenty of boos from the crowd inside Mandalay Bay — but he still considers himself ‘the King.’
The Takeover continues his worldwide domination 🌏 pic.twitter.com/rhG2B447YG
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 9, 2024
“These fighters don’t want to come and fight,” Lopez said after the fight, according to ESPN. “If you ain’t ready for this life, get the f— out of my sport. I am a champion. I bleed for this and I sweat for this and I cry for this — every time.”
And he had a point.
Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) spent most of the fight running away from Lopez and refusing to engage. He had Lopez frustrated with his southpaw stance, but he slowed down as the fight went on and wasn’t using his power punches.
While ineffective, Lopez continued to push and the judges took notice. Looking at the cards, the fight came down to the final three rounds — the ‘Championship Rounds.’ Lopez swept all three of them, but he was just one loss on two cards away from a draw.
The official scorecard 🖊️ pic.twitter.com/GcQLcMLOXz
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 9, 2024
Lopez threw 364 punches and landed 78 (including 66 power punches), while Ortiz threw 409 punches and landed 80 (60 power). Fans were hoping to see a more exciting performance, but this was far from that.
While Ortiz was running, Lopez was following — when he should’ve been cutting off the ring. He stayed aggressive, which gave him the edge on the scorecard, but it rarely amounted to anything. He only threw one punch at a time and rarely targeted the body.
Lopez had multiple opportunities to take control of the fight, but failed to do so. Still, he came out victorious — and that’s all that matters.
Teofimo Lopez Wants Terrence Crawford Next
Despite being called out by Keyshawn Davis earlier in the night, Lopez rejected the invitation and set his sights on something higher:
“I’ll fight Crawford at a catchweight. I’m here. I’m ready. I’ve always been ready. I’m younger, prettier, and a two-time unified champion at 25,” he said after the fight.
As for why he doesn’t want to fight Davis: “We’re talking about a lightweight. He hasn’t done anything. Just like Vasiliy Lomachenko told me: If you want to fight me, you’ve got to get a world title. If you want to fight the king, get a world title.”
MIC'D UP 🗣️
Teofimo Lopez & Keyshawn Davis exchange words during today's presser.
Real Time Ep. 3 ➡️ https://t.co/M0YzvpaxBR pic.twitter.com/yxuM9jz89a
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 7, 2024
Davis defeated José Pedraza by TKO just minutes before Lopez and Ortiz made their way to the ring. He volunteered to make the jump to 140 for a shot at Lopez, but also said he would take Emanuel Navarrete — if Teofimo Lopez was scared.
It doesn’t matter who you put in front of Lopez, he says he’ll be ready by April/May and wants to take his talents to Honduras. Crawford would be an exciting bout, but so would Subriel Matias — or even Devin Haney.
For now, Las Vegas has its sights set on an upcoming WBO junior middleweight title fight between Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) and Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs). The fight is scheduled for March 30 at T-Mobile Arena.
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