Teofimo Lopez Sparks Fury With Controversial Points Win Against Jamaine Ortiz – ‘Highway Robbery’

Teofimo Lopez won a controversial unanimous decision over Jamaine Ortiz to retain his WBO Junior Welterweight Title.

Lopez may have been declared the victor, but there was a suggestion that Ortiz had outboxed him to earn his first world title. The challenger came out in a southpaw stance, waiting for Lopez to come in before countering him. The strategy was paying off early on, with Lopez unable to let off his combinations due to Ortiz’s lateral movement. Ortiz caught Lopez with a big right hand over the top to edge the second round, as Lopez started slow.

Ortiz Starts Strong

By the third, Lopez did find some success as he targeted Ortiz’s body to slow him down. The Takeover followed that up with his best round in the fourth, hitting Ortiz flush with a left hook. Ortiz responded by closing the distance and hitting Lopez.

Lopez’s Frustration

Ortiz continued the game plan by countering Lopez and moving out of harm’s way, much to the annoyance of the champion, who shouted in the fifth round, ‘This guy isn’t fighting.’ Ortiz was ahead in the fight, even if it was not the best spectacle.

In the seventh, Ortiz suffered a scare following a clash of heads. The challenger came off second best, resulting in a cut over his eye. As the blood poured forth, the referee stopped the fight to allow Ortiz to get some medical attention. Ortiz slowed down in the eighth, with the crowd responding with boos.

That did not last long, as the challenger clipped Lopez on the cheek in the ninth. Lopez rallied strongly in the tenth with a counter right and left hand to the body, but Ortiz backed away. With Ortiz feeling in control, the challenger moved around the ring in the final round, only to lose the decision on the scorecards: 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113.

Post-Fight Comments

“I tried my best for the people. I even tried to box going backward and he didn’t want to commit. Glory is next for me. None of these guys want to fight me. I’ll fight [Terence] Crawford at a catchweight. I’m here. I’m ready. I’ve always been ready.

“I’m younger, prettier, and a two-time unified champion at 25. We’re talking about a lightweight [he said of Keyshawn Davis, who called him out after winning his co-featured bout on the undercard]. He hasn’t done anything. Just like Vasiliy Lomachenko told me: If you want to fight me, you’ve got to get a world title. If you want to fight the king, get a world title,” Lopez said

“I stuck to the game plan. I listened to my corner and my team. [And] I was doing good. [And] I believed I was winning. That’s what I believe. I think I won the fight. What can I say? I came up on the short end of the stick again. I just felt that he couldn’t hit me. [And] I was making him miss all night. I was countering; I was making him miss, I was hitting him with the jab, with the check hook. [And] I just feel he wasn’t landing no shots on me.

“I thought the 115-113 either way could have been a close scorecard. What did you think about that 117-111? 117-111, I don’t think nobody would agree to that. Either way, him or me, 117-111 is just ridiculous. Where do you go from here with the lessons that you learned tonight, the fact that the judges didn’t see it go your way? Do you need to change your style? Do you need to stay true to who you are? Ortiz stated

Full Results

Teofimo Lopez def. Jamaine Ortiz via a unanimous decision Decision – 117-111, 115-113, 115-113

Keyshawn Davis def. Jose Pedraza via a sixth-round TKO

Rene Tellez Giron def. George Acosta via a unanimous decision – 79-72, 78-73, 76-75

Abdullah Mason def. Benjamin Gurment via a second-round TKO

Charlie Sheehy def. Abdel Sauceda via a unanimous decision – 80-72, 80-72, 80-72

Javier Martinez def. Raul Salomon via a unanimous decision – 79-73, 78-74, 78-74

Alan Garcia def. Tomas Ornelas via a first-round TKO

Lemis Isom Riley def. Antonio Zepeda via a third-round TKO

Art Barrera Jr. def. Michael Portales via a first-round TKO

Fans React

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.