Teofimo Lopez Wins By KO in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS-Now a full-fledged super lightweight, the flashy Teofimo Lopez gave the rest of the weight division a warning shot on what to expect as he defeated Mexico’s Pedro Campa by knockout before a raucous crowd on Saturday night.

It was lightning in a bottle.

Brooklyn’s Lopez (17-1, 13 KOs) showed in front of his promoter and other promoters like Oscar De La Hoya sitting in front, that he’s ready to challenge any and all super lightweights with an impressive victory over Mexico’s Campa (34-2-1, 23 KOs) at the Resorts World Las Vegas.

Though notably shorter and seemingly smaller in size, Lopez looked confident as usual in his first fight back since losing his lightweight world titles to George Kambosos last November. He proved it was an aberration with a dominant blend of his athleticism and skill.

Most of the boxing world expected Lopez to be the quicker-handed and more accurate puncher, but fighting at a heavier weight division, especially against a strong fighter like Campa, was a true test.

Immediately Lopez showed his sneaky combinations tinted with almost invisible uppercut finishes, that continually snapped Campa’s head back. But the Mexican quickly showed that those power shots could not faze him.

Around the third round Campa began to find the rhythm of Lopez and his range; soon he surprisingly began landing combinations. Though few were flush, they caught Lopez’s attention and he retaliated with his own sneaky shots that always found the mark.

Accuracy was on display and Lopez had the patent.

Whenever it looked like Campa was about to corner the former lightweight champion, Lopez would use his agility to maneuver around the attack and unload lightning combinations that connected flush.

For a while it seemed Lopez could not crack the chin of Campa who is known as “Roca” because of his sturdy chin.

After seven rounds of chipping away at Campa with sizzling combinations, Lopez found an opening for a short right and left counter and down went the Mexican fighter. Campa beat the count and tried to move away from more danger but Lopez zeroed in like a panther stalking its prey. As he cornered Campa he unloaded 10 unanswered blows that forced referee Tony Weeks to stop the barrage at 2:14 of the seventh-round, a technical knockout victory for Lopez.

The former lightweight champion now has the NABF and WBO regional super lightweight titles and wants more.

“This is the takeover, takeover,” said Lopez. “Like I said, we’ve been at 135 for nine years and it was killing my body.”

The Brooklyn fighter said he expects to return to the prize ring at Madison Square Garden. Among those he has targeted are Josh Taylor and Golden Boy’s Ryan Garcia whose promoter De La Hoya watched Lopez win.

“We want Josh Taylor, we want all the belts,” said Lopez adding that Ryan Garcia would be equally desirable.

As far Lopez’s first foray as a super lightweight, he was able to knock out a fighter that failed to last the distance on only one other occasion.

“That guy was a tough guy,” said Teofimo Lopez’s father Teofimo Lopez Sr.

Zayas

Puerto Rican bomber Xander Zayas (14-0, 10 KOs) erupted quickly flooring Mexico’s Elias Espadas (22-5, 15 KOs) in the first round with a left hook during an exchange of blows. But the Mexican got up and the blows continued.

Elias had never been knocked out before in any of his prior 27 bouts, and he wasn’t going quietly in this fight either. The Yucatan fighter never looked to survive and kept looking for the knockout too. He just never could hurt Zayas.

For three rounds both the Puerto Rican and Mexican exchanged hellacious blows with Zayas always connecting with the bigger blows. Elias never stopped trying and never tried to run away. He maintained a do-or-die attitude and wasn’t about to exchange.

Zayas fired numerous blows to the body and below the belt and was warned three times for drifting far south of the beltline. Referee Russell Mora could have deducted a point, especially because there were at least five blows that landed very low.

“I promise it wasn’t intentional. I wasn’t planning to land it low,” said Zayas about the low blows.

After the final warning the fight resumed. After the fourth round ended the ringside physician examined Espadas who was allowed to continue.

Within seconds of the fifth round the taller Puerto Rican and stubborn Mexican exchanged blows immediately. Espadas landed a left hook and Zayas countered with a looping right that sent the Mexican across the ring and down. The referee stopped the fight at 23 seconds of the round.

“I felt amazing. I’m glad to be back,” said Zayas. “I felt I could have landed more behind my defense. We just have to get better and better.”

That’s bad news for the rest of the super welterweight division.

Other Bouts

Las Vegas fighter Andres Cortes (18-0, 10 KOs) faced Mexican dream buster Abraham Montoya (20-4-1, 14 KOs) and survived eight rugged and face busting rounds in their super featherweight clash. No round was easy as Montoya forced Cortes to dig deep and into his bag of resources and endurance.

Cortes was caught in the corner by Montoya in the sixth round with a sweeping left hook and avoided hitting the floor because of the ropes. The referee could have called it a knockdown but allowed the action to continue. Cortes fought his way out of danger.

Though Cortes won the majority of rounds with right cross pot shots, spins and pot shots from left hooks, he never could fully distance himself from the Mexican ruffian. After eight rounds the judges scored it 79-73 for Cortes.

Middleweight prospect Troy Isley (7-0, 4 KOs) defeated defensively-inclined Victor Toney (6-2-1,5 KOs) by unanimous decision after six rounds. The low action fight saw Isley press and press and Toney diffuse each attack with slippery moves and jab counters. Isley tried to ignite action with some roughhousing but even that proved futile against the non-aggressive Toney. One judge saw it 60-54 and two others 59-55 all for Isley.

Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (7-0) had trouble with Puerto Rico’s D’Angelo Fuentes (7-1, 4 KOs) in a six round featherweight clash. But despite a slow start and getting tagged with some big rights, Ragan was able to survive and rally down the stretch and win by decision 58-56 on all three cards.

Puerto Rico’s Omar Rosario (8-0, 2 KOs) out-battled Southern California’s Esteban Munoz (6-2, 4 KOs) after six rounds in a super lightweight bout. Each fighter had moments in the fight with Rosario most effective with the jab and Munoz with a right to the body. Neither fighter attempted many combinations. All three judges scored it 58-56 for Rosario.

Charlie Sheehy (4-0, 3 KOs) was too skilled for Mexican tough guy Juan Castaneda (2-1-2,) in a four round lightweight fight. Castaneda couldn’t throw a straight punch but his chin took everything Sheehy could throw. After four rounds Sheehy won 40-36 across the board.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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