FIGHT WEEK
Former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez begins his come back against Pedro Campa at junior welterweight on Saturday in Las Vegas.
TEOFIMO LOPEZ (16-1, 12 KOS) VS. PEDRO CAMPA (34-1-1, 23 KOS)
- When: Saturday, Aug. 13
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Resorts World Las Vegas, Las Vegas
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- Rounds: 12
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Lopez 16½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Xander Zayas vs. Elias Espadas, junior middleweights
- Prediction: Lopez KO 8
- Background: Lopez returns to the ring for the first time since he was knocked down in the first round and lost a split decision to Australian George Kambosos Jr. last December in New York, which cost the Brooklyn fighter his undisputed 135-pound championship and much luster from his reputation as a rising star. He had won the titles by upsetting pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko in his previous fight. He will have been out of the ring for 8½ months when he faces Campa in his first fight as a junior welterweight. The 30-year-old Mexican is a solid all-around fighter but hasn’t faced an opponent near Lopez’s class. He rebounded from a knockout loss to journeyman Carlos Jimenez in 2017 by going 7-0-1 in his next eight fights. That includes a third-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Carlos Sanchez Valadez in March, his most recent bout. Campa has fought only once in the United States, back in 2015.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
FRIDAY
- Tevin Farmer vs. Mickey Bey, lightweights, Prescott Valley, Arizona (pay-per-view).
SATURDAY
- Wesley Ferrer vs. Jayson Velez, junior lightweights, Orlando, Florida (FITE+)
MONDAY (in South Korea)
- Hyun Mi Choi vs. Aka Ringo, junior lightweights (for Choi’s WBA title), Seoul, South Korea (no U.S. TV).