An underdog for the second time in his career, Teofimo Lopez did exactly what he'd done the first time around: score an impressive win over an established top fighter. Lopez dominated Josh Taylor to capture the WBO junior welterweight championship on Saturday night in New York City.
Taylor, the much bigger man in the ring, simply struggled round after round to deal with Lopez's awkward angles and head movement. As Taylor chased Lopez and stood flat-footed in front of the challenger, Lopez would uncoil with big right hands, leaping left hooks and powerful uppercuts.
Lopez had not looked good in recent outings, including barely edging out a split decision win over Sandor Martin in his most recent fight. After the Martin fight, Lopez was caught on camera asking his team, "Do I still got it?"
Lopez had also seemed increasingly unhinged in recent interviews, claiming his own promoters favored "Black fighters" and stating a desire to literally kill Taylor in the ring.
All of that proved not to matter as Lopez, the former unified lightweight champion, showed all the skills that had made him one of the men pegged as the future of boxing when he defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 to win three world championships at lightweight.
As Lopez clearly gained control of the fight, he began to dance and pose in front of Taylor, who was undisputed champion at 140 pounds before being stripped of three of his world titles for failing to make mandatory title defenses.
By the end of the fight, Lopez held a 158-82 advantage in punches landed, showing just how dominant he had been throughout the fight.
Despite Lopez's clear dominance, the scorecards were a bit of a scare for the new champion, reading 115-113, 115-113, 117-111.
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"It's been a long time coming. We just beat the No. 1 ranked guy, the No. 1 champion, former undisputed champion," Lopez said before making the claim he was now undisputed despite only holding one belt. "Two time undisputed world champion, Teofimo Lopez."
Despite a brief dust-up when Taylor's corner refused to give Lopez the Ring Magazine championship belt, Lopez also took a moment to apologize to Taylor for his stated desire to kill him in the ring as well as address the candid moment at the end of the Martin fight.
"I do want to say one thing, I let my emotions get the best of me. I did not want to take your life, I want you to go back to your family. I apologize. ... I questioned myself for a good reason. I'm my own worst critic. But I just have to ask you one question: Do I still got it?"
Taylor gave no excuses after the fight, admitting he was bested in losing for the first time in his career and asking for a rematch while admitting Lopez now held all the power.
"Listen, no excuses," Taylor said. "It wasn't my best. The better man won tonight. Fought to the best of my ability. I felt amazing in the gym. He was the best tonight. Congratulations to Teofimo. I'd love to do it again, but he's the champ and the ball is in his court."
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Teofimo Lopez Jr. def. Josh Taylor (c) via unanimous decision (115-113, 115-113, 117-11)
- Xander Zayas def. Ronald Cruz via unanimous decision (80-71, 80-71, 80-71)
Taylor vs. Lopez scorecard, live coverage
Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taylor (c) | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 110 |
Lopez | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 118 |