" The Takeover" Teofimo Lopez Jr. scored a rather unimpressive unanimous decision win against Steve Claggett and defended his WBO junior welterweight title on Saturday night in Miami.
Boxing experts and fans alike anticipated a more spectacular win by Lopez: probably by stoppage, but the durable Canadian contender Claggett lasted the entire duration for the first time in his career, winning only one round on the three scorecards as Lopez landed a career-high 315 punches.
“What a fight. Today wasn't about skills – it was about will and strength,” Lopez said during his post-fight press conference.
“I knew the type of fighter I was fighting. He's a triathlon athlete. His conditioning was impeccable. He's never been 12 rounds before, so we knew we had to break him down. And me with asthma, I'm grateful.
“I like tough fights. Tough fights bring the best out of me. I don't care how my face looks. Fuck it. It's a fight. I’m 26. I'm still learning in this game, and that's what I like.
“I don’t care how I look. As long as my hand gets raised at the end of it all. I needed this a lot. Top Rank founder Bob Arum said I did well. He didn’t look too happy. F*ck it. I’m your only last star available, and that's it. You just got to deal with it. I am the best. Forget the rest.”
Lopez, who lost to George Kambosos Jnr at Lightweight, is now 5-0 at 140 pounds, but he hasn’t scored a stoppage in any of the fights; his most thrilling bout coming against Josh Taylor.
The 140-pound division features the likes of Devin Haney, Isaac Cruz, Liam Paro, Jose Ramirez, Jack Catterall, Regis Prograis, Alberto Puello, Gary Antuanne Rusell, Rolando “Rolly” Romero, Richardson Hitchins, Sandor Martin, Dalton Smith among others.
From the group – in addition to fights against lightweight Gervonta “Tank” Davis and welterweight Terence Crawford – Lopez would like to next face WBA titlist “Pitbull” Cruz.
"I'm there, man. Tank, whatever the case is. They haven't faced fighters like [Claggett] in a long time,” said Lopez.
“Fuck yeah, I’m ready for [Cruz]. I'm excited. Now I know how to face fighters like that even better. ... Nobody is going to fight like Steve Claggett. There’s only one fighter that is going to fight like him a little bit, and he’s smaller – and that’s Pitbull Cruz. Other than that, no other fighter fights that way at all. They all box.”
Isaac Isaac Cruz is one of only two men to have gone the distance with Gervonta Davis - the other man being Eric Jamal Goodall in October 2013 in a four rounder.
Nicknamed " Pitbull " , Cruz destroyed Rolly Romero inside 8 at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 30 to annex the WBA Super Lightweight Championship.
The Mexican brawler is scheduled to face Jose Valenzuela in August.
A fight between Cruz and Teofimo Lopez shouldn't be difficult to finalise: Cruz is ever-willing and Lopez won't stop calling.
By Samuel Opoku Amoah.
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