Prograis Retains Title, But Was Zorrilla Victimized By Scoring?

With the landscape of the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division in the process of transition as well as recently crowned WBO Jr. Welterweight world champion Teofimo Lopez inexplicably retiring in the days following his championship winning victory over longtime champion Josh Taylor, subsequently relinquishing the title, the storyline for Regis Prograis' defense of the WBC world championship on June 17th at the Smoothie King Center in his native New Orleans, LA against  Danielito Zorrilla represented not only a homecoming for the two-time world champion, but in light of the recent events in the division, a chance for Prograis to make a case for himself as being the top Jr. Welterweight in the world.  If the opening of this column seems like a long-winded run-on, it is, but in fairness, it may be the best way to describe the current state of the Jr. Welterweight division that frankly has seemed like a ride on a rollercoaster in recent weeks.

The tongue and cheek attempt at humor of this observer aside, the recent events, did nevertheless make a title defense for Prograis, the first defense of his second reign as a world champion, more interesting. One could surmise that if Teofimo Lopez had not retired, something which will probably be debated as to whether it is legitimate, the storyline of this defense for Prograis might have been whether he could be headed towards a unification bout with Lopez, and as a result, this fight likely would have been viewed at least by some as an afterthought. Although this appeared to be an ideal scenario for a homecoming title defense for Programs, the actual fight itself turned out to be both competitive and anything but an ideal scenario or afterthought.

Zorrilla was able to establish himself earlier in appearing to drop the champion with a right hand in the first round where Prograis grabbed on to Zorrilla as he was falling in an attempt to hold on. Despite the appearance of a clear knockdown, confirmed via video replays, this would be incorrectly ruled a slip by Referee Ray Corona. While some cynics might try to argue that the missed call of a knockdown against Prograis was in some way influenced by where the fight was talking place, I believe Corona, who has officiated over 733 bouts as a referee and nearly 400 as a judge, many of which were world championship bouts in both capacities, simply missed the call. It does happen and it is important to keep in mind that referees and judges, like the rest of us, are all human and are as prone to human error as anyone.

The call of a slip in the first round notwithstanding, Zorrilla was nevertheless able to show that he was there to fight and not to partake in what may have been intended to be a showcase for the champion. In round three however, Prograis would respond by dropping the challenger with a flush overhand left that nearly resulted in Zorrilla flipping backward as he went down to the canvas. This was a hard knockdown that this observer briefly wondered whether Zorrilla would be able to continue upon getting to his feet. To the challenger's credit, he was able to get himself together and the fight went on.

It was from round four on where frankly the pace of the fight while still competitive slowed and neither fighter seemed able to clearly take the initiative or land many punches. This can be attributed to Zorrilla being more tactical than had been the case in some of his previous fights and looking to play the role of a strict counter puncher and Prograis not being able to land consistently. When such a scenario occurs it does not produce the most entertaining of fights from a fan's perspective, but more importantly, creates what more often than not can prove to be a conundrum for judges in terms of scoring because it will often be based on particular moments during a particular round as opposed to which fighter is able to dictate how the fight is fought. Without the benefit of potential knockdowns during rounds that are fought in this way, it can indeed be difficult to determine who is ahead.

An illustration of this from this observer's point of view was that after ten rounds, I had the champion Prograis only slightly ahead on my unofficial scorecard due largely to the official knockdown in round three. If it had not been for that knockdown, my scorecard likely would have been even. It was simply the kind of fight where plenty of punches were thrown between two fighters, but not many landed. 

At the conclusion of the twelve round world championship bout, I felt it could go either way based on what I observed and it was certainly no surprise to hear a split decision rendered. What was surprising however, was to hear the disparity in the scoring. Judge Craig Metcalf turned in the closest score of the three official judges in having Zorrilla up by a single point 114-113. This is what I felt was an accurate scorecard simply based on how close the fight appeared to be. The difference in my unofficial scorecard and that of Metcalf's is I had the same one point difference, but I ended up with Prograis as the victor on my card. Despite Craig Metcalf and I appearing to see a similar fight, though ending up split in the outcome, judges Robert Tapper and Josef Mason turned in significantly wider scorecards of ten rounds to two (118-110) and nine rounds to three (117-110) in favor of Prograis giving him the split decision victory to retain his title. Before diving into a possible explanation of why the two deciding scorecards were wide, I will point out for clarification purposes for readers who might be curious that the scorecard of judge Josef Mason 117-110, is one point wider than a standard nine rounds to three scorecard of 117-111. Mason's score being slightly wider is a direct result of the knockdown against Zorrilla in round three, which was scored 10-8 in points on all three official scorecards.

As for why the scores were wider than what appeared to be the consensus of a close fight that could go either way, only the judges themselves can say what they saw and what they based their scoring on. Although not many punches were landed between the two fighters throughout the twelve round bout, which turned out to be just 84 between Prograis and Zorrilla, setting the record for the fewest punches landed in the historical of CompuBpx, which has tracked punching statistics for thousands of fights on every level of the sport since the 1980's, an educated guess from yours truly would be that Prograis was the fighter generally coming forward and trying to force the action throughout much of the fight. While both fighters obviously did a great job in making each other miss with the vast majority of their offense, Prograis appearing to press the action more than Zorrilla could perhaps be the basis of what judges Tapper and Mason based their scoring on, but this is only an observation on my part based on decades of experience covering the sport and scoring countless fights unofficially as well as one that has a clear understanding of how Boxing on all levels of the sport, amateur, professional, and professional Bareknuckle is scored based on clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense. Though clearly the element of defense proved to be a focal point in this fight, evidently Zorrilla did not do enough in the eyes of Tapper and Mason.

Ultimately, this proved not to be the type of homecoming that Regis Prograis or his supporters were likely looking for, nor was he able to produce the type of performance in this fight that will likely put him as the top fighter in the Jr. Welterweight division. Sometimes however, styles do make fights and a win is a win. Even though I felt that Prograis did just enough to retain his title here, I do feel that Danielito Zorrilla fought well and that it was a closer fight than two official judges saw it. While this does not mean that Zorrilla was in some way victimized by how this fight was scored, nor does it means that a possible corruption took place, though some fans may point in that direction given the circumstances of the fight being held in Prograis' hometown. Perhaps Zorrilla upon getting the chance to watch the fight will be able to see what he may have been able to do more of, which may have turned many of those close rounds his way. If nothing else, Danielito Zorrilla has established himself as a player in the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division. A division that as we near the end of June 2023 remains one in transition with no clear consensus as to who is the top Jr. Welterweight in the world.

"And That's The Boxing Truth."

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Winwood Remains On Fast Track Towards Challenging For A World Title

Boxing is truly a unique sport in many aspects. One among them is the fact that every fighter's journey is different and the path that a fighter hopes to follow towards the goal of becoming a world champion will vary depending on the fighter. While most are likely of the point of view that a fighter should spend at least the first couple of years of their professional careers not only accumulating time in active competition in the ring in terms of building a record, but more importantly to use the time to gain valuable experience and develop their skillset. 

Credit: Tony Tolj/Dragon Fire Boxing 

For a select few however, the path to a world championship can come quickly and there are those who are able to reach a world championship fight before reaching their tenth fight as a professional. Some notable names among that select group include Vasyl Lomachenko as the most recent example of a fighter who won a world title before reaching his tenth pro fight and has subsequently gone on to win multiple world championships in several divisions, and the late Leon Spinks, who in just his eighth fight as a professional, shockingly dethroned the legendary Muhammad Ali in 1978 to win the Heavyweight championship of the world, just to name a few. 

The fighters who are able to accomplish what is truly a rarity remains a limited select group and most are probably of the opinion that most fighters that accomplish that goal of becoming a world champion with a limited number of professional fights are either fighters that are simply in the right place at the right time, or in the case of Lomachenko, prove to be a true generational talent that rarely comes along. There is however, a fighter who has quickly emerged that could well be on his way to joining that select list. Enter Alex Winwood.

Winwood, a native of Bunbury Australia, has skyrocketed on the fast track towards potentially adding his name to that list. Competing in Boxing's lowest divisions, Winwood turned pro in November of last year and in just two fighters won the WBC International championship in the 108lb. Light-Flyweight division. Although some may not understand the purpose of titles of a regional nature, the important thing for fighters is more often than not, holding a title like an international title for example, often carries with it a top fifteen ranking in a sanctioning organization's ratings. For his third professional fight, Winwood moved down in weight to the 105lb. Minimumweight division, which is also referred to as the Strawweight division.

Winwood's opponent would be the undefeated WBC international champion Reyneris Gutierrez, who was ranked number five in the world by the WBC in the Strawweight division. While that statistic should be viewed as the significant step up that it was for Winwood, who entered the fight held at Metro City Nightclub in Perth, Australia on June 16th as the main event of Dragon Fire Boxing's Thunderdome 42 card, rated number fifteen by the WBC, it is important to note that his previous international title win at Light-Flyweight came against Tibo Monabesa, a fighter that was competing in his twenty-sixth professional fight compared to Winwood's second. Given that Winwood entered this fight having knocked out both of his previous opponents, the possibility of being intimidated by a fighter in Gutierrez, who entered the fight unbeaten in nine professional fights, was likely not an issue seeing as he had just scored a knockout win over a more experienced Monabesa in his last fight.

This would nevertheless prove to be a test for Winwood. From the opening bell of the scheduled ten round bout the two fighters engaged in combat at a high pace, something that is common for bouts fought in Boxing's lowest divisions. The ebb and flow generally consisted of Gutierrez throwing hooks and trying to catch Winwood as he came forward.

While several of the rounds in this fight appeared close due to both the pace in which it was fought as well as both fighters being able to have their share of moments in many of the same rounds, there was one thing that stood out that as the fight progressed proved to be the difference. Winwood's lateral movement including his head movement throughout was stellar in being able to make Gutierrez miss, land short, compact combinations, and use his legs to evade and over time dictate how the fight was being fought. In just his third fight as a professional, Winwood was also able to show the ability to take a punch when he needed to. Something that can remain a question for fighters who have had more experience in the professional ranks than he has had up to this point. 

It was this strategy that Winwood was able to implement as well as scoring a knockdown in the fourth round by landing a perfectly timed counter left hook to the head that dropped Gutierrez, that ultimately resulted in his being able to score a convincing decision victory to move his record to 3-0, with 2 Knockouts. In addition to responding well to when he was pushed by Gutierrez, this victory also accomplished something that is also rare for a fighter with only three pro fights. He showed the stamina and ability to go ten rounds in a competitive fight, which is something that will likely benefit him as he moves forward from here.

Credit: Tony Tolj/ Dragon Fire Boxing 

Whether or not Alex Winwood does indeed add his name to the select group of fighters to have won a world championship within the first ten bouts of their professional career. After defeating a top five contender and turning in a solid performance in the process, it may be a question of what opportunities are available in either the 105lb. Minimumweight or 108lb. Light-Flyweight divisions that might decide how soon the opportunity to fight for a world championship might come. Off of this performance, the Boxing world should be keeping a keen eye on whatever the next step for Alex Winwood might be.

"And That's The Boxing Truth."

Photos Courtesy of: Tony Tolj/Dragon Fire Boxing Used with permission.

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RISING STAR ALEX WINWOOD SET FOR WORLD NO.5 REYNERIS GUTIERREZ

Press Release: June 15, 2023 By Dragon Fire Boxing and Michael Clfton - Australia's Alex Winwood may be 2-0 but he has a world title shot in his sights. "I've got the blinders on, and I've got tunnel vision going forward"

Credit: Dragon Fire Boxing 

A 2-0 boxer headlining a major card may raise eyebrows, but it is not unheard of for talented prospects to jump into main event status shortly after turning pro. Now, if the opponent for the 2-0 fighter happens to be the No.5 in their division, expect a lot more eyebrows to be raised upon hearing that news.

 

However, when it comes to Alex "The A Rock" Winwood, who finds himself in the situation described above, defying expectations is starting to become the norm in regards to his boxing career.

On Friday, 16 June, at Thunderdome 42, the former Olympian will headline his second pay-per-view event when he takes on WBC World No.5 Reyneris Gutierrez for the WBC International Strawweight title.

 

The 25-year-old, who turned professional last November, is targeting a meteoric rise up the world rankings. In just his second pro fight, Winwood demolished former IBO World Champion Tibo Monabesa via a fourth-round TKO victory.

 

The win over Monabesa created opportunities for even more high-profile opponents for Winwood, which he has seized without hesitation. A fight against the world No.5 may seem daunting to some, but for Winwood, this is precisely how he saw his career progressing.

Instead of building up an inflated record against hand-picked opposition brought in to make him look good, Winwood wanted to continue where he left off from the amateurs, fighting at the sport's highest level.

 

"Transitioning out of my amateur career like I had that thought in my head that I didn't want to just go in and bash up some poor bastard from overseas or whatever that shouldn't really be in there, " he explains.

 

"That's the kind of mentality that [I had] going forward. I was like, look. I'm fighting the best in the world as an amateur at the moment; I don't see the need to go backwards. ' he added.

 

 

“Hopefully, in a few years [ when people look at] my record, their jaws drop, and they go 'far out, he did jump straight in there, and he beat all these blokes that had more experienced records than himself'."

 

Winwood may be blazing his own trail, but at Dragon Fire, he is surrounded by a team that knows what it takes to reach the top of the world stage. He recently spent six weeks in the United States with the Moloney twins, Jason and Andrew, as they prepared for their world title bouts against Vincent Astrolabio and Junto Nkatani, respectively.

 

"It's been an absolute honour and pleasure to be around the twins for the past year in the gym and for me to go away with them and train alongside them as they got ready for their title bouts," Winwood says.

 

"It was kind of like an inside foresight that not many boxers get to see in terms of what could be progressing in my career."

 

One of the benefits of his time in the U.S. was getting to train and spar with various fighters in the Top Rank gym. Observing some of the world's most famous fighters grinding it out brought home the reality for Winwood: once the tv cameras and spotlights have turned off, what really matters is how hard a boxer is willing to work to achieve their dream.

 

"There was just like all these big-time boxers in the one gym, and then it kind of clicked to me that we're all just boxers in a boxing gym, " he says.

 

"We all come from like a backyard shed somewhere or a street corner fighting somewhere, and we all end up in this one place. It was a privilege for me to be there and to realize that."

Winwood is fully aware of the work required to achieve his goal of becoming a world champion. He and his team want to make history by breaking Jeff Fenech's record and have Winwood become the fastest Australian to earn a world championship.

 

It is a lofty goal that brokers no distractions, not that Winwood would want it any other way.

 

" I've chucked a job in, I've moved state, packed it all up for boxing to work out, and so far, so good. So, I've got the blinders on, and I've got tunnel vision going forward, and over the next 5 to 10 years, this is what one's life is going to revolve around. I just want to get as much out of it as I can and enjoy the experience."

Material and Photo Courtesy of: Dragon Fire Boxing and Michael Clfton Used with permission. 

Thunderdome 42 takes place on Friday, June 16 at Metro City Nightclub in Perth Australia. The card can be seen globally on digital combat sports streaming network and pay-per-view platform FITE for $16.99 (U.S. Price Only.) The card will begin at 5:50AM ET/2:50AM PT (U.S.Times Only.) 

For more information about FITE including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms platforms, Smart TVs, and for instructions on how to download the FITE app please visit: www.FITE.TV. 

To order Thunderdome 42 Click Here

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Lou DiBella addresses “Mongolian Mole” accusation ahead of Tsendbaatar Erdenebat Vs Mandeep Jangra

Press Release: June 14, 2023 By ProBox TV - Wednesday Night Fights returns tonight with its monthly instalment of boxing from Plant City, Florida live on ProBox TV. One fight that has caught the imagination is the international undefeated clash between Mongolia’s Tsendbaatar Erdenebat and India’s Mandeep Jangra in the super featherweight division. 

Credit: ProBox TV

Erdenebat (6-0, 3 KOs) is highly touted after an illustrious amateur career that saw him medal at the Asian Games, Asian Championships, World Championships and also competed at the 2016 Olympic Games. 

In more peculiar news, Erdenebat has been accused of being a spy for Gervonta Davis while sparring Ryan Garcia in preparation for their recent duel. It culminated in Erdenebat being labelled and slandered as the “Mongolian mole” by team Garcia. 

Erdenebat’s promoter Lou DiBella recently gave his thoughts on the whole situation.

“He’s falsely and unfairly known by some as the Mongolian mole.” DiBella said of his fighter. “Tsendbaatar was a sparring partner for Garcia. He also goes by the name Genghis Khan. He’s an Olympian for his country, one of the greatest fighters to ever come out of Mongolia, he’s a very offensively minded kind of guy. And he apparently injured Ryan Garcia in the lead up to the Davis fight. There was a little video he made after the whole thing saying sorry to Ryan after injuring him, but he wasn’t a mole in the camp, he doesn’t even speak English. He did spar with Ryan though and landed a good body shot.

“He’s going to be fighting on June 14 on ProBox TV. The kid is very hot right now, that whole story with Ryan put a big spotlight on him. He’s a very fun fighter to watch, very offensively minded, throws a lot of body shots, he probably looks for the knockout a bit too much. He’s young and still a work in progress. He is not afraid about stepping up and not too fussed about his opponents, he will fight anybody. I’m really looking forward to him developing and watching him on ProBox TV. The kid is a lot of fun and has a lot of personality even though he speaks very little English. He’s very charismatic, he has a lot of pizzazz. I’ve got him a couple of fights before and he really stole the show.``

Material and Photo Courtesy of: ProBox TV Used with permission. 

For more information about ProBox TV including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, full event archive, and additional content, and to subscribe please visit: www.ProboxTV.com. 

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

ROY JONES JR. - MANDEEP JANGRA IS ENTHUSIASTIC AHEAD OF TSENDBAATAR ERDENEBAT CLASH

Press Release: June 13, 2023 By ProBox TV - Wednesday Night Fights returns to ProBox TV in just one day's time with a mouth watering all undefeated clash in the super featherweight division between Tsendbaatar Erdenebat and Mandeep Jangra. 

Credit: ProBox TV 

An intriguing match-up that sees two successful amateurs put their undefeated records on the line in Plant City, Florida. Both medalled regularly at recognised tournaments, the pair also making a successful transition, so far, in the professional circuit. Jangra (4-0, 3 KOs) won silver medals at both the Asian Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Erdenebat (6-0, 3 KOs) scored medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games and competed at the Olympics.

The Indian amateur standout recently signed management terms with boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. who spoke about his fighters chances on Wednesday night. 

“Mandeep looks really good in training, he is really enthusiastic about the fight. He knows the Mongol can fight, he’s an exceptional fighter. I want to see the Mongolian in person myself, but you know Mandeep is not your regular kind of guy, he’s coming to fight. 

“It’s a beautiful fight for both fighters. Both guys are a little bit older, they both have excellent experience. It will be an awesome fight to see. For Mandeep, this is the first time he is going into deep water like this. But, we got to see where he is at, so we know where to go with him. At 30 years old he gotta start pushing, you know. We will do this first fight and move on to the next one after this.”

Tsendbaatar Erdenebat and Mandeep Jangra is part of a great night of action live on ProBox TV with an all-star commentary team and analysis from Paulie Malignaggi, Chris Algieri and Mike Goldberg.

Material and Photo Courtesy of: ProBox TV Used with permission.

For more information about ProBox TV including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, full event archive, and additional content, and to subscribe please visit: www.ProboxTV.com. 

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Can Prograis Shine In Homecoming Title Defense?

The 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division remains in the spotlight in the month of June as two-time Jr. Welterweight world champion Regis Prograis will begin his second reign as world champion in the division when he puts his WBC world title on the line against Danielito Zorrilla on Saturday, June 17th in the champion's hometown of New Orleans, LA.

The fight, which can be seen globally on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN from the Smoothie King Center represents not only the beginning of Prograis' second reign atop the Jr. Welterweight division after previously holding the World Boxing Association (WBA) crown, but also his first fight under his new promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. Prograis became a two-time world champion in November of last year when he scored an eleventh round stoppage of Jose Zepeda to win the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) crown. In what was an exciting back and forth fight, Prograis had his ability to take a punch tested before ultimately breaking Zepeda down and stopping him.

As Prograis' second reign begins, the Jr. Welterweight division might be heading towards a period of transition. At the time of this writing, it was only days ago when the former undisputed world champion of the division Jodh Taylor, the only man to defeat Prograis, suffered the first loss of his career in losing his WBO world championship to Teofimo Lopez. Two days after the fight however, Lopez announced his retirement from the sport. While that announcement should be taken with a grain of salt given Lopez' ongoing personal problems outside the ring as well as his well-publicized disgruntlement with his promoter Bob Arum, it has nevertheless not only kept interest in the division high, but also created a scenario where it now gives Prograis the opportunity to try and make a statement as to being the number one fighter in the division. 

What will the WBC champion be facing in his first title defense? In Danielito Zorrilla, Prograis will face a fighter who like himself, has only been defeated once in his career, and one that has scored thirteen knockouts in his seventeen career wins. Much like the champion, Zorrilla does have punching power, but perhaps a red flag that some might see is that the challenger will enter this fight rated number twenty in the world in the WBC's Jr. Welterweight ratings. While it is appropriate to ask why a fighter who is rated in the top twenty has been given thr opportunity to fight for a world championship, we obviously will not know if Zorrilla's ranking is misleading and perhaps a case of at best, questionable ranking practices by the sanctioning organization until the fight is underway.

Regis Prograis is a fighter with a Boxing style that this observer would liken to a sniper. In that he has hand speed, punching power, the ability to attack at varying angles, and finally the ability to set traps that thus far many fighters, including Josh Taylor, who got the nod over him by a razor thin decison in October 2019, have had difficulty trying to combat. The story of this fight in terms of what happens in the ring all centers on whether Zorrilla has a way to solve Prograis' puzzle. Zorrilla must find a way to cut the ring off from Prograis early to attempt to limit the champion's ability to move and set angles. He must however, be defensively aware at all times because Prograis is a precision counter puncher if given the opportunity and it is possible that Zorrilla could walk into punches he does not see if he is not strategic in applying pressure and is overly aggressive.

As for Prograis, this fight in some ways is an ideal set up for him. Defending his title in his hometown with what will likely be an enthusiastic crowd of supporters on hand. It is a scenario however, where other fighters have felt added pressure to perform above expectations as well as the added obligations that often come with fighting in your hometown. If Prograis is somehow not on his fight game with an eye towards potential bigger fights that might be ahead of him, the possibility of an upset does exist.

The bottom line is Prograis must get through this fight before any discussion xan be had regarding more lucrative paydays. If he can however, produce a solid performance and retain his world championship convincingly, he might provide a strong argument as being the top fighter the Jr. Welterweight division has to offer.

"And That's The Boxing Truth."

Prograis vs Zorrilla takes place on Saturday, June 17th at the Smoothie King Center in Nee Orleans, LA. The fight as well as it's full undercard can be seen globally on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN beginning at 6:05PM ET/3:05PM PT with Before the Bell, which will feature preliminary bouts with the main card beginning at 8PM ET/5PM PT. ("U.S. Times Only.*)

(*Card and Start times Subject to change.*)

For more information about DAZN including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, availability around the world, local start times in your area, and to subscribe please visit: www.DAZN.com. 

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Taylor-Lopez Thoughts

 The fight between Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez, while being an encounter between two recent undisputed world champions in the sport for Taylor's WBO Jr. Welterweight world championship at the Theater in Madison Square Garden on June 10th, was one that was overshadowed by comments made in the days that preceded the fight as both fighters made references to the possibility of inflicting serious injury on the other. Although this observer made his feelings clear in previewing this fight as to such comments and conduct, which I stand by, it unfortunately did overshadow what was a compelling bout between two of the sport's top stars and one that was regarded as one of the most anticipated encounters of 2023.

Despite my feelings regarding the conduct that preceded this fight, it was one that I was nevertheless looking forward to because of both the interesting clash of styles between the two fighters as well as the respective scenarios that each fighter found himself in, in coming into this bout off of performances in their respective last outings that the consensus was that both fighters had lost. As it would turn out, this would be another example of Teofimo Lopez' ability to go against the type of strategy that one would expect of a fighter known for his punching power and using a surprising tactical Boxing style and approach that proved to be effective. An approach similar in execution to the one that Lopez used in his unification bout with Vasyl Lomachenko in October 2020 where he fully unified the Lightweight division.

By using faints, lateral movement, and attacking in spurts at varying angles, Lopez was able to dictate how the fight was fought by keeping the champion Taylor off balance and unable to find a consistent rhythm. While the early rounds of this twelve round world championship bout were competitive and Taylor did have success periodically, Lopez' ability to time his attacks, be elusive, often attack in short combinations that Taylor had trouble defending against, and overall ring generalship was the story of this fight. Although likely not the most entertaining of bouts of you were one expecting Lopez to be throwing punches with knockout intention, Teofimo Lopez once again was able to show in this fight that he has more wrinkles to his Boxing strategies than only merely relying on the punching power he has demonstrated throughout his career.

A subplot going into this fight was the fact that this was Josh Taylor's first fight in over sixteen months as he had dealt with both injuries as well as elements of the politics that be in the sport, which ultimately led to him vacating three portions of what was the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight championship of the world before fulfilling his obligation to the World Boxing Organization (WBO) by facing Lopez, who came into this fight as the WBO's mandatory challenger in the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division. It is hard to say whether any of the aforementioned factors, specifically the issue of inactivity ended up working against Taylor in this fight, but from this observer's view, he seemed lethargic and a few steps behind Lopez throughout the entire fight. This does not take away anything from the performance that Teofimo Lopez put forth here in ultimately winning a convincing twelve round unanimous decision to win the title and hand Taylor the first loss of his career, but perhaps the possibility of Taylor being overtrained and possibly struggling to get down to the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight limit might explain why there just seemed to be something off about Taylor's performance here. The possibility of him being unprepared for the approach that Lopez implemented is something to also consider.

Lopez now as a two-division world champion has thrown the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division a curveball as some considered him an underdog to dethrone Taylor. While Lopez does deserve credit not only for his performance, but also his apologizing to Taylor after the fight for the remarks he made in wanting to kill him, it is hard to say where he goes from here. Lopez is going through some issues related to his personal life outside of the ring and even though this observer will not comment on those issues, it will likely take some of the focus and time away from potential fights that could be made including a potential unification bout with current WBC world champion Regis Prograis, who coincidentally has a title defense on June 17th in his hometown of New Orleans against Danielito Zorrilla, or a potential rematch with Taylor. 

Although Lopez did apologize for his remarks prior to the fight and Taylor accepted the apology calling it ‘Fun and Games,” this observer does not feel that way in that those comments do not belong in any sport, even one as flawed as Boxing tends to be at times. Going forward regardless of what might be going on outside of the ring in a fighter’s life, Lopez, Taylor and any fighter on every level of the sport needs to understand that the sport needs to be respected at all times including the obvious dangers that are associated with it. It is the responsibility of the fighters, especially those who are in the position as being fortunate to be at the top level of the sport, to represent it with the dignity and class that it deserves. While emotions tend to be high prior to any fight and no one knows what a fighter might be dealing with in their private lives outside of Boxing, it might be a good idea for those around fighters to advise them on conduct, what to say, and how to say it. Thankfully, there were no tragedies inside of Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2023, but when you look at the long list of tragedies that have occured on every level of the sport, it is far from “Fun and Games,” and the sport needs to be treated with the respect it deserves.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

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