Teofimo Lopez called up Terrence Crawford after defending his WBO super lightweight world title with a win over Jamaine Ortiz.Keyshawn Davis stops former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza with a sixth-round TKO
7:45, UK, Friday 9 February 2024
Teofimo Lopez points out that he defeated Jamaine Ortiz by unanimous decision in Las Vegas on Thursday night to retain the WBO world super lightweight title.
Judge Steve Weisfeld scored the fight 117-111, Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland both scored it 115-113, and the announcement was made by a crowd of 6,206 at Michelob Ultra Arena. There was loud booing.
Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) was making his first defense of his title, stepping into the ring for the first time since June when he defeated Josh Taylor by unanimous decision, but the American called out Terrence Crawford after the fight. his victory.
“I'm the champion. I'm the king,” Lopez said. “Next for me is Glory. No one wants to fight me. I'm going to fight (Terrence) Crawford at catchweight. I'm here. I'm ready. I'm always ready. .I am younger, more beautiful and a two-time unified champion at the age of 25.”
Lopez fought downhill from the start of the fight, imposing himself on Ortiz (17-2-1). Ortiz was fighting in his first world title match and seemed ready to take on Lopez, vowing to knock him out, but then spent much of his fightback promoting the fight.
By the start of the seventh inning, the left side of Ortiz's face began to swell. To make matters worse, a little more than a minute into the round, a head-to-head collision left Ortiz bleeding near his left eye.
The eighth and ninth rounds were more than frustrating for Lopez, who spent more time chasing Ortiz than fighting him. Ortiz, on the other hand, landed well-timed counters and combinations to stop Lopez's pursuit.
“We cannot for a second charge these people, these fighters, who don't want to come here and fight,” Lopez said. “I'm a champion. I bleed for this, I sweat, I cry every time for this.”
It wasn't until the 12th round that there was a steady flow of action, with both fighters throwing combinations, Lopez throwing punches and Ortiz moving around the ring and fighting back.
Lopez landed 78 of 384 punches (21%), two fewer than his opponent's 409 punches (20%), but Ortiz was disappointed by the lack of results.
“I believe we won the fight,” Ortiz said. “What can I say, I went out on the short end of the stick again. He couldn't hit me…He didn't get any shots on me.”
Davis looks on as he collides with Lopez, who stops Pedraza.
In the co-main event, a 10-round lightweight bout, American Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis stopped former Puerto Rican two-division world champion Jose Pedraza with a sixth-round TKO.
Davis (10-0, 7 KOs) started to show his mettle in the third round, landing powerful combinations to both Pedraza's head and body. Although it appeared that he did most of the damage with straight shots to his face, Davis dealt most of the punishment in subsequent rounds with consecutive shots to his body.
“I've been saying this whole training camp that 135 is the best I can get,” Davis said. “Everyone kept saying, we've got to get the stoppage, we've got to get the knockout. “But I told everybody, don't worry, just watch me work. That’s exactly what happened. I was stopped from work.”
Now, Davis has his sights set on Lopez.
“Teofimo has been talking a lot lately,” Davis added. “I'm going to go straight to 140 and fight Teofimo. What's up? You already know how I'm going to come. You and your dad. So let's get ready. I'm going straight to 140. Go. Let’s do it.”
“And if you're scared of Teofimo, it's (Emanuel) Navarrete. He's a great fighter. He's a hell of a fighter. It would be an honor to get in the ring with him after winning the WBO title. So, do it. Let's see.'' Do it. “
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