It’s a rare Thursday evening of action at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, and Teofimo Lopez makes a first defence of his WBO super lightweight title, as he takes on Jamaine Ortiz, who challenges for world honours for the first time.
Sky Sports televise Lopez vs Ortiz in the UK, while ESPN do the broadcasting duties in the USA.
Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) shot to stardom almost overnight in 2019 when he stopped Richard Commey in two rounds to win the IBF lightweight title, and he backed that win up with an even bigger success, adding the WBA (Super) and WBO belts to his collection with a stunning points win against Vasyl Lomachenko.
The lift-off wouldn’t last long though, as in his next contest, Lopez shipped his titles as he was dropped and then lost a split decision to George Kambosos Jr in New York, and he was forced to rebuild by going up in weight. That move yielded a seventh round win against Pedro Campa, but he was decked against Sandor Martin in December 2022, before taking a close split verdict.
‘The Takeover’ started as second favourite against divisional number one Josh Taylor last June, but Lopez turned in a superb display to wrench the WBO title on the cards.
After flirting with apparent retirement, Lopez now returns against Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs), who moves up from lightweight. The man from Massachusetts’ best win is his ten round points win against Jamel Herring in May 2022, and that earned him a crack against the aforementioned Lomachenko, where he was spirited in a points defeat. Ortiz was last seen last September, clearly outscoring Antonio Moran over ten.
Prediction: Lopez is a talented fighter when he is on his game, and he should have too much IQ for Ortiz here. I lean towards Lopez taking a wide win on the cards over the championship distance.
Blue chip prospects star on undercard
The sole ten rounder on the bill comes at lightweight, where Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) takes a step up against the solid former world champion, Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs). Davis fought three times in 2023, but his last outing was changed to a no contest after a majority nod against Nahir Albright saw Davis fail a post fight test. Pedraza hasn’t won in his last three contests, the last a competitive points loss over ten to the highly-rated Arnold Barboza Jr.
🗣️”This kid is 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋!”
Keyshawn Davis grabs another win via knockout 🔥
🤜 #ValdezStevenson | @trboxing pic.twitter.com/XSBpGiJIn1
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 1, 2022
Prediction: The pick is for Davis to win clearly on the scorecards.
In eight rounders, also at lightweight, George Acosta (17-1, 3 KOs) can bank another points win, this time against Rene Tellez Giron (18-3, 12 KOs), and Abdullah Mason (11-0, 9 KOs) can take his super lightweight contest against Benjamin Gurment (8-0-3, 5 KOs), inside schedule.
Charlie Sheehy (8-0, 5 KOs) should stay unbeaten by halting Abdel Sauceda (12-3, 8 KOs) at lightweight, and at middleweight, Javier Martinez (9-0-1, 3 KOs) should get past Raul Salomon (12-2, 10 KOs) on the scorecards.
In six round attractions, Alan Garcia (10-0, 8 KOs) can score another early win, against Tomas Ornelas (7-3, 5 KOs) at super lightweight, and at heavyweight, Antonio Zepeda (6-1, 6 KOs) can take a knockout win against Lemir Isom Riley (3-2, 1 KO).
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The only four rounder is in the super lightweight division, where Art Barrera Jr (2-0, 2 KOs) should stay perfect with a stoppage win against Michael Portales (3-2-1, 1 KO).
