Teofimo Lopez remained the WBO and The Ring junior welterweight champion as he edged out a controversial decision win over Jamaine Ortiz on Thursday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lopez was defending his belts for the first time after he beat Josh Taylor by decision back in June. It was a much better performance from Lopez after he edged out a split decision win over Sandor Martin and questioned if he still has it.
Yet, against Ortiz, neither boxer was active, as the challenger outlanded Lopez 80-to-78. It was a lackluster fight that went the distance, but it was Lopez who got the win, as the judges scored it 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 for him. However, throughout the fight, the boos were raining down which was frustrating for Lopez, as he puts the blame on the challenger.
“I tried my best for the people. I even tried to box going backwards, and he didn’t want to commit. We cannot for one second claim these people, these fighters that don’t wanna come and fight, [are real fighters]. If you ain’t ready for this life, get the f*** out of my sport… I don’t even know why I came back to this, honestly,” Lopez said after the fight. “Seriously, why did I come back to this? Nobody wants to fight. Everybody just wants to clout the name out of all my hard work. … They just want to be famous.”
With the win, Teofmo Lopez improved to 20-1 as a pro and is now on a four-game winning streak.
Jamaine Ortiz thinks he beat Teofimo Lopez
Following the scorecards being read, Jamaine Ortiz was frustrated as he thought he clearly won the fight and couldn’t believe a judge scored it 117-111.
“I stuck to the gameplan, I listened to my corner, my team. I thought I was winning. I think I won the fight. What can I say? He couldn’t hit me, I was making him miss all night. 117-111 is just ridiculous… I believe I won the fight,” Ortiz said. “What can I say, I came out on the short end of the stick once again. He couldn’t hit me. … He wasn’t landing any shots on me. … I always stay true to who I am. … Make some adjustments and come back for another title shot.”
With the win, Jamaine Ortiz dropped to 17-2-1. To earn the title shot, he beat Antonio Moran by decision after losing to Vasyl Lomchenko.
