Notebook: Emotions run high as Taylor, Lopez battle for 140 crown
Edwards defends flyweight title, eyes unification; Ortiz fight canceled for missing weight; BetUS show; Quick hits; Show and tell
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When the fight between lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor and former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez was announced in mid-April the two fighters verbally sparred during a during a joint interview on a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN broadcast.
Taylor was on site in Newark, New Jersey, at Shakur Stevenson’s last fight and Lopez appeared via satellite from Las Vegas, which annoyed Taylor because Lopez had not joined him there in person.
Still, the back and forth was humorous even as both vowed to defeat the other.
But as the promotion wound down, the talk turned far more personal, especially from Lopez, who said he wanted to kill Taylor in the ring, which certainly goes over the line in a violent sport where death is actually a distinct possibility.
It has gotten so severe between Taylor and Lopez that Top Rank has them staying at different hotels and they were not permitted to have a face off at the fight-week news conference or at Friday’s weigh-in, just to make sure there was no physical confrontation before they get to the ring.
They will fight in Taylor’s mandatory defense in the main event on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET with preliminary bouts on ESPN+ at 6:15 p.m. ET.
Emotions ran high at the weigh-in as Taylor yelled at Lopez from across the stage while Lopez stared daggers at him and his father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr., shouted at those booing in the crowd and flipped them double middle fingers.
“He means what he says, and I mean what I say,” Taylor said at the fight-week news conference. “There is genuine dislike here. He’s been disrespectful. I’m going to make him pay for his words. I can’t wait to get in there. You will see a Josh Taylor win, possibly by KO, and nice and early as well.
“This is dream come true. You always dream of coming stateside and fighting in venues like this. This is the ‘Mecca of Boxing,’ Madison Square Garden. I can’t wait to get in there to make this dream become a reality, and this clown here is in my way.”
Both fighters enter the bout with question marks.
Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), 32, a southpaw from Scotland, has not boxed since February 2022, when he won an extremely controversial split decision in defense of the undisputed 140-pound title against England’s Jack Catterall in Glasgow, Scotland. Taylor wanted the rematch so badly that he vacated or allowed himself to be stripped of all of his sanctioning body belts except the WBO.
The rematch was planned several times but postponed for various reasons until a Taylor foot injury pushed it back yet again and the WBO ordered his mandatory defense against Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs), 25, a Brooklyn, New York, native fighting out of Las Vegas.
So, Taylor comes into the fight off a long layoff and a very shaky performance against Catterall and even though he professes to dislike Lopez, he did show him respect in terms of his ability.
“I know he’s a good fighter,” Taylor said. “The version that beat (Vasiliy) Lomachenko (to unify lightweight titles in October 2020) is a very good fighter. That’s the version I’m preparing for. It’s all about your preparation. I’ve prepared diligently and to the best of my ability. You’ll see the best of me on Saturday night.”
There are even more questions about Lopez coming into the bout. He has won both of his fights since moving up to junior welterweight following his lightweight title loss to George Kambosos Jr. by decision in a gargantuan upset — also at the MSG Theater in November 2021 — but Lopez did not look particularly good in either of his 140 pounds fights.
He knocked out Pedro Camp in the seventh round of a pedestrian showing last August and then struggled mightily to a split decision over Sandor Martin in December in a fight in which Martin knocked him down in the second round. Lopez was so distraught after the fight that he was caught on camera questioning whether “I still go it” and was the rare fighter who blew off the post-fight press conference despite winning and having no injuries.
He seems to have put that behind him, talking more confidently leading up to the bout with Taylor.
“I’m excited about this,” Lopez said. “This is like a dream come true. What more can you really shoot for? Nobody has really called out Josh Taylor. Who knows why? Maybe because he beat everyone already. But I’m here. I’m here to come in there and take everything that you’ve got.”
Edwards looks ahead
Sunny Edwards, who defends the IBF flyweight title for the fourth time when he faces Andres Campos on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, knows there are far bigger fight ahead if he wins.
One of the reasons Edwards (19-0, 4 KOs), 27, of England, recently signed with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was because of unification fights he would be able to offer him. Hearn also promotes WBC titlist Julio Cesar Martinez and WBO titleholder Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and all three of the titleholders have expressed interest in unification bouts.
“There’s nowhere for the other champions to hide now,” Edwards said this week. “One at a time, they will get their turn. What I do is different to anything anyone else does in a boxing ring. The world is waiting, and I think right now I am the No. 1 flyweight in the world.
“Fight night is my best night of my year, better than my birthday and better than Christmas. It’s the best night of the year. I think Eddie, and the rest of Matchroom and DAZN, they genuinely know that with me, they get a fighter that wants to fight and will fight anyone.”
The Edwards and Martinez camps were in talks late last year to unify but Martinez ultimately faced a mandatory challenger instead. Edwards hopes to have one of the unification fights before the end of the year.
“It’s not just that I want all of the belts, I don’t want anyone else to have them,” Edwards said. “It sickens me, it pains me that there’s three other people at my weight that walk around saying the same shit that I say (that they are world champion). The fact that with professional boxing you can’t force someone in the ring with you and they can go round showing off a belt, that’s terrible.”
Campos (15-0, 4 KOs), 26, of Chile, is taking a massive step up in opposition and is largely unknown.
“Outside of him and his fans, abusing me on Instagram for the last however many years, I don’t really know too much about him,” Edwards said. “I don’t really care about knowing too much about him. When I get in there it’s the Sunny show. It’s showtime and there’s no time like showtime. When I get in there, it’s whatever I want it to be. I don’t focus on him. I don’t need to talk about him.”
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed three notable fights that take place on Saturday: Josh Taylor’s junior welterweight title defense against Teofimo Lopez, Sunny Edwards’ flyweight title defense against Andres Campos and the super middleweight fight between Jaime Munguia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
J. Ortiz fight canceled
Lightweight Jamaine Ortiz’s fight with Humberto Galindo scheduled for the undercard of the Josh Taylor-Teofimo Lopez fight on Saturday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden was canceled on Friday because Ortiz was dramatically over the lightweight limit.
He did not come to the weigh-in because he was so heavy, closer to 140 pounds than 135 pounds, according to Top Rank.
The fight was supposed to be the first for Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs), 27, of Worcester, Massachusetts, since October, when he pushed Vasiliy Lomachenko to the brink in a very strong performance as a big underdog. He looked so good against Lomachenko despite losing that in May he signed a co-promotional contract with Top Rank to work with his longtime promoter Jimmy Burchfield of CES Boxing.
Ortiz had previously boxed on a Top Rank card and won a decision over former junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring last May that sent him into retirement.
Ortiz said his inability to come close to making weight was due to a back injury that interrupted his training camp a few weeks ago.
“For three weeks I had severe back spasms and couldn’t train properly,” Ortiz said. “I tried to push my body to the limit as soon as I felt better, but I hit a wall and the last few pounds just wouldn’t come off. I work with a dietician and follow a strict systematic plan to make weight, but I couldn’t follow it properly this time because of the amount of weight I had to lose after the injury:
He said he hopes to return to the ring in August and apologized.
“My sincerest apologies to my opponent, my promoters CES and Top Rank, Jimmy Burchfield and everyone who made their way to New York City to see me fight,” Ortiz said. “I tried my best to make weight despite the interruption, but I couldn’t make it safely.”
Quick hits
Weights from New York for the Top Rank card Saturday night on ESPN: Josh Taylor 139.8 pounds, Teofimo Lopez 140 (for Taylor’s WBO junior welterweight title); Xander Zayas 152.8, Ronald Cruz 152.4; Robson Conceicao 130.6, Nicolas Polanco 130; Omar Rosario 139.2, Jan Carlos Rivera 138.4; Damian Knyba 261.4, Helaman Olguin 256.8; Bruce Carrington 126.8, Luis Porozo 126.4; Henry Lebron 129.2, Carlos Ramos 129.6.
Weights from Ontario, California, for the Golden Boy card Saturday on DAZN: Jaime Munguia 167.4 pounds, Sergiy Derevyanchenko 167.4; Shane Mosley Jr. 160, D’Mitrius Ballard 159.8; Mariana Juarez 121.2, Mayeli Flores 120.8; Ricardo Sandoval 111.4, Rocco Santomauro 111.8; Jorge Chavez 123.4, Christian Lorenzo 123.8; Anthony Saldivar 155, Jerome Clayton 152.8.
Weights from London for the Matchroom Boxing card Saturday on DAZN: Sunny Edwards 111.1 pounds, Andres Campos 111.6 (for Edwards’ IBF flyweight title); Johnny Fisher 238.4, Emilio Salas 229.9; Cherneka Johnson 120.8, Ellie Scotney 121.4 (for Johnson’s IBF women’s junior featherweight title); Cheavon Clarke 199.2, David Jamieson 199.1; Nina Hughes 117.3, Katie Healy 117.5 (for Hughes’ WBA women’s bantamweight title); Youssef Khoumari 129.8, Reece Bellotti 129.4; George Liddard 162, Nikolas Dzurnak 160.5; Shannon Ryan 115, Martina Bernile 114.4; Muhammad Ali 123.8, Bryan Castro 123.3.
Lightweight contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) has an opponent for his appearance on the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford Showtime PPV card on July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Cruz, 25, of Mexico, will face Giovanni Cabrera (21-0, 7 KOs), 28, of Chicago, who is coming off a dominating 10-round decision over Gabriel Flores Jr. last July but has since been released by Top Rank. The WBC made the announcement of the fight, which it is sanctioning for a regional title. Cruz has since won two fights in a row, a fifth-round knockout of Yuriorkis Gamboa and a second-round demolition of Eduardo Ramirez since a disputed decision loss to WBA “regular” lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis in December 2021.
The promotion for the mega fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight title and pound-for-pound supremacy will kick into high gear next week. Spence (28-0, 22 KOs), Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) and their teams will embark on a two-city media tour to hype the fight, which takes place July 29 (Showtime PPV) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The first stop of the tour will be on Tuesday morning in Beverly Hills, California, followed by stop No. 2 in New York’s Times Square on Wednesday morning. The events, however, are not open to the public like sometimes such tours have been in the past.
Bantamweight Walter Santibanes (12-2, 2 KOs), 32, of Phoenix, traveled to the home turf of Manuel Flores (15-1, 11 KOs), 24, of Coachella, California, and pulled the upset in the main event of the “Golden Boy Fight Night” card on Thursday at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Santibanes prevailed 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91 in the dominating performance. “I know the crowd is not in my favor, but I came to do my job,” Santibanes said. “I try to work hard in the gym, and this is what I have to do; this is my job. I want to go down to 115 pounds, but I’ll fight whomever they throw at me at any weight. I’ll fight anyone.”
Wasserman Boxing announced that junior middleweight Josh Kelly (13-1-1, 7 KOs), 29, a 2016 British Olympian, suffered an undisclosed injury this week that has forced his fight with Gabriel Corzo (18-0, 3 KOs), 27, of Argentina, scheduled for June 24 at Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle, England, to be postponed until July 15. It will take place at the same location and still stream on DAZN. “He suffered an injury in training which means we have to push his return back three weeks, but Josh will be ready for July 15, when he will deliver a statement performance to the rest of the division,” Wasserman Boxing promoter Kalle Sauerland said.
Show and tell
After Leon Spinks upset Muhammad Ali to win the undisputed heavyweight title, he gave Ali an immediate rematch, causing him to be stripped of the WBC belt for not facing mandatory challenger Ken Norton, who was awarded the belt. He made his first defense against fellow Hall of Famer Larry Holmes in a bout that aired live on ABC in prime time from the famed Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas. They waged one of the greatest heavyweight title fights in history, an all-out slugfest that is one of my personal favorite fights of all time. Both guys showed enormous heart and will in an absolutely grueling battle, including in the phenomenal 15th round, one of greatest rounds in heavyweight title history. We didn’t know it at the time, but Holmes went through with the fight despite having suffered a left biceps injury in a sparring session five days beforehand, making his victory even more impressive.
In the end, Holmes rightfully won a split decision with two judges scoring it for him, 143-142, and one judge having it 143-142 for Norton, who remains the only heavyweight champion to never have a victory in a world title fight. The epic fight was on June 9, 1978 — 45 years ago on Friday. Here is an extremely scarce program from the fight in my collection.
More show and tell
Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto, who had won a world title at junior welterweight, moved up to welterweight and won another one. He was making his second defense and was in his absolute prime when he squared off with former undisputed champion Zab Judah in an HBO PPV fight Top Rank put on at Madison Square Garden. Cotto was the Puerto Rican star fighting once again on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Parade in New York and Judah, from Brooklyn, was a popular and powerful New Yorker. They put on a terrific fight in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,658, which produced one of the most electric atmospheres I have covered a fight in.
Cotto lost a point for a low blow in the third round and suffered cuts around his mouth and right eye. Judah was also bleeding from a cut over his right eye in the intense brawl. In the ninth round, Judah took a knee under heavy Cotto fire and got knocked down again in the 11th round before it was waved off later in the round, ending a memorable fight that lived up to its “X-Plosive” title. The fight was June 9, 2007 — 16 years ago Friday. Here’s a scarce thin cardboard site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Taylor Lopez and Zayas-Cruz: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Edwards-Campos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Ortiz: CES Boxing; Munguia-Derevyanchenko: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy
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Getting more into the history of boxing and really appreciate the Show-n-Tell sections