Teofimo Lopez, the current WBC super-lightweight champion, has announced both the name of his opponent and the date of his next bout.
Recent sources have indicated that Lopez and Jamaine Ortiz have been in negotiations for a title fight that will take place on February 8 in Las Vegas of Nevada. X/Twitter was recently used by Top Rank Boxing to make the announcement that the fight had been finalized.
Lopez is being hailed as a rising talent in the world of boxing. Now, he is coming off of a sensational victory over Josh Taylor, which allowed him to capture the light-welterweight titles from both the WBO and The Ring.
The primary attraction of the Top Rank Boxing event that will take place three days prior to the Super Bowl will be the fight between Lopez and Ortiz.
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After struggling to pull off a split decision victory against Sandor Martin in his last appearance, Lopez was able to re-establish his dominance in the boxing realm with his victory over Taylor in June of 2023. Immediately following his victory over Taylor, “The Takeover” decided to declare his retirement, which came as a surprise to the entire globe.
Despite this, he communicated to the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in writing that he would continue to hold the championship despite being given a deadline of twenty-four hours to make his final choice. Having recently emerged from a brief period of retirement, the 26-year-old fighter will be making his debut appearance in a professional bout against Ortiz.
The fight between Keyshawn Davis and Jose Pedraza will be the co-main event on February 8th. Davis is coming off of a victory over Nahir Albright in which he didn’t lose. Even though Davis had initially been declared the winner by a majority of the judges, the verdict was reversed after he tested positive for marijuana.
In the meantime, his opponent Jose Pedraza has not been victorious in a fight since he defeated Julian Rodriguez in June of 2021 during their battle. In his most recent bout, he competed against Arnold Barboza for the WBO Intercontinental super-lightweight title. Unfortunately, he was defeated by Barboza by unanimous decision.
Teofimo Lopez declined to fight Ryan Garcia
Additionally, Teofimo Lopez and Ryan Garcia are both rising stars in the sport of boxing who have a great deal of room for improvement. The knockout defeat that Garcia suffered at the hands of Gervonta Davis in April 2023, however, had a significant impact on his stock.
The possibility of a battle between Lopez and Garcia has been capturing the imagination of boxing fans for quite some time. According to the television show “The Takeover,” Garcia had allegedly reached out to him on social media and suggested that they engage in a fight. He, however, disregarded the match, stating that “KingRy” was in such a desperate need of a payday that he turned it down.
During his attendance at the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade event, Lopez disclosed to FightHype.com that he was offered the Garcia fight, but he declined the opportunity to compete against Garcia:
The offer was turned down by me.
Take a look at Lopez’s encounter down below:
A knockout victory in the eighth round of Garcia’s fight against Oscar Duarte in December 2023 brought Garcia back into the win column. The 25-year-old’s stock was once again raised as a result of the performance, which resulted in widespread praise.
