Teofimo Lopez and Jamaine Ortiz squared off in the main event live from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 8. The contest featured two-division world champion of Brooklyn, New York defending his WBO junior welterweight title against contender of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Although both fighters promised to knock each other out, the bout went the full distance. After 12 rounds of a fairly underwhelming performance, one judge scored the fight 117-111 and two other judges had 115-113, all in favor of the champion.
Nevertheless, with the victory by unanimous decision, Teofimo Lopez made the first successful defence of his WBO 140-pound belt. The 26-year-old former unified lightweight champion improved to 20-1, 13 KOs and recorded his fourth win in a row.
Despite the boos from the crowd, Lopez said he was champion and would fight Terrance Crawford, and basically anyone else. When asked if he would face lightweight Keyshawn Davis, who defeated Jose Pedraza in the co-main event and called him out, Lopez said that first he needed to win a title.
“I tried my best for the people,” Teofimo Lopez said. “I even tried to box going backward, and he didn’t want to commit.”
“Glory is next for me. None of these guys want to fight me. I’ll fight [Terence] 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.”
“We’re talking about a lightweight [Keyshawn Davis]. 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.”
Jamaine Ortiz dropped to 17-2-1, 8 KOs. The 27-year-old didn’t succeed in his first attempt to become champion.
Post-fight Ortiz said he felt like he’d won the fight and didn’t agree with the 117-111 score. He said he was going to come back and earn another title shot.
“I stuck to the game plan,” Jamaine Ortiz said. “I was listening to my corner and my team. I was doing good. I thought I was winning. That’s what I believe. I believe I won the fight. What can I say? I came up short once again.”
“I just felt like he couldn’t hit me. I was making him miss all night. I was countering. I was making him miss. I was hitting him with the jab and the check hook. I just felt like he wasn’t landing any shots on me.”
“I always stay true to who I am. But we’ll go back to the drawing board, make some adjustments, and come back for a title shot.”
Get Lopez vs Ortiz full fight card results.