The former unified Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez has won his highly-anticipated battle against former Super Lightweight undisputed champion Josh Taylor. The two met in the ring on June 10th at the Madison Square Garden in New York in a spectacle of a match. After twelve rounds, Lopez was declared the winner by unanimous decision with scorecards of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.
The WBO Super Lightweight title, held by Josh Taylor (19-1, 13 KO’s) prior to the match, was made available during this world championship bout, and Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KO’s) put up a convincing performance to win the title off of Taylor.
Despite both fighters having been regarded as equally matched, Teofimo Lopez won the majority of the rounds convincingly with his effort in the ring. Josh Taylor found it difficult to establish himself as Lopez attacked with strong looping hooks and stepped up the tempo every time Taylor sought to simply box, but that didn’t mean that Lopez completely dominated.
Fighting mostly on the front foot, Josh Taylor’s strategy seemed a mismatch towards Teofimo Lopez’ workrate and relentlessness, and the Scottish fighter offered no alternatives to overcoming Lopez’ energetic and slick style which incorporated a lot of movement.
It was an eye-catching performance from Teofimo Lopez who had previously fought off claims of ‘robbing’ former opponent Sandro Martin after he was declared the victor in their match. Just like when he had faced Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KO’s), Teofimo Lopez was not unanimously considered the favorite but nevertheless showed what he was capable of against Josh Taylor.
Josh Taylor will be disappointed with his performance after giving up his three other titles over the span of a year to go on a 16-month sabbatical, only to return and lose his last remaining WBO world title. The Scot might just move up to Welterweight as he has indicated himself, but will face tough competition given the current champions and contenders in the division.
Teofimo Lopez has also taken a surprising turn following his battle with Josh Taylor, and has announced himself to be retired. The American champion claims the lack of earnings as the main reason as to why he chose to hang up his gloves. Nevertheless, the WBO belt is still held by Lopez, suggesting that his retirement claims haven’t yet translated to him vacating his newly-won title in the process.
