The Junior Welterweight/Super Lightweight match between Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KO’s) and Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 KO’s) for Lopez’ WBO International title and the vacant NABF Junior Welterweight title came paired with a controversial split decision in favor of Lopez. Martin, a replacement opponent for Jose Pedraza (29-4-1, 14 KO’s) who fell out of the match a month ago due to injury, put in an amazing performance that might have warranted a win in his favor. The championship bout was held on Saturday, December 10 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. One judged scored the bout 94-95 in favor of Martin while the rest tipped Teofimo Lopez to have won with their scorecards of 96-93 and 97-92.
While Lopez’ claims following the match accused Sandor Martin of “running”, Martin simply looked effective on the back foot, as evident by him knocking down Teofimo Lopez in the second round after Lopez came into the pocket with an attempted body shot. While the match did feature Martin being more defensive and tending to lean more onto his right foot, he countered Lopez effectively and didn’t mince unleashing combinations and accurate quick jabs when necessary.
Teofimo Lopez’ approach was mostly focused on him coming forward and seemingly looking for a quick knockout with his combinations and dangerous right hands. Martin’s body and head movement proved to be excellent on the night, and he also made sure to check Lopez several times with body jabs while Teofimo Lopez seemed to be frustrated with missing his shots. He did seem most effective however when countering Martin, but due to Martin’s defensive and evasive approach, Lopez was often forced to step in rather than time his shots well.
Up to the seventh round, Teofimo Lopez seemed to clearly win some rounds as Sandor Martin failed to effectively push Lopez back. Even in the seventh, Teofimo Lopez seemed to gain more confidence and he notably landed a hard-hitting right cross nearly a minute into the round. At some point, Teofimo Lopez looked to lunge in but was hit by a check right hook by Martin which dropped Lopez. However, the referee ruled the knockdown a slip again, which would later add more fuel to the fire of the controversial decision that ensued following the match.
Following the last five rounds, the decision-making process by the judges seemed to take longer than usual. When the announcer came forward with the results, it became apparent that Teofimo Lopez had won by decision with scorecards that reflected the fight to be much less closer than it actually was.
Teofimo Lopez retained his WBO International title – which he had won in his previous match against Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 KO’s) – and he also won the NABF Super Lightweight title. Shortly following the fight, both Sandor Martin and Teofimo Lopez were engaged in heated discussion over who actually won. Teofimo Lopez also didn’t shy away in expressing what he thought of his performance and his opponent.
“It’s so hard to fight somebody like this when they runnin the whole time. Every time this guy committed I countered and I got him every time.”Teofimo Lopez said in the in-ring interview. “He (was) just running the whole time. Every time.”
“No matter what it was, I apologize to everybody tonight. This is not how we perform to anybody, but listen, our dance partner was running the whole time.” Lopez continued.
Teofimo Lopez also went to explain what happened in the seventh round when he had suffered an apparent knockdown that was counted out.
“It wasn’t that I was getting caught with it, he was just pushing me down.” Lopez clarified.
When the announcer/interviewer pressed Teofimo Lopez on the legitimate knockdown that he had in the second round, Lopez seemed to grow agitated.
“You guys are gonna talk about one thing but the whole thing… everytime that this man (Sandor Martin) wanted to commit, I was countering him and attacking him. That’s why he was running the whole time.”
With Teofimo Lopez’ latest victory, he now faces elite competition in the other champions of the division which include WBA (Super) world champion Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KO’s), WBC champion Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KO’s) and WBO & IBF champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KO’s).
Sandor Martin may have grounds to pursue a rematch with Teofimo Lopez following the controversy, but nevertheless the loss of his performance will not likely hurt his stock given the performance he has put in. Martin has been on an eleven-match winning streak since last losing in 2017. With there being four different champions in the division, there are plenty of avenues he can take to challenge for a world title.
What did you think of the controversial decision between Teofimo Lopez and Sandor Martin? Place your opinion below.
