Teofimo Lopez defeated Josh Taylor by a unanimous decision to take Taylor’s WBO 140-pound title, giving Lopez major belts in a second division.
The official scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 for Lopez, eight rounds to four.
Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) took control of the fight about a third of the way through and dominated the rest of the way, outboxing Taylor (19-1, 13 KOs), out working him and hurting him on several occasions.
Taylor got off to a relatively strong start, landing many of the cleanest punches in the first few rounds. His body work was particularly good.
However, Lopez found a groove around the fourth round, demonstrating that he was the superior boxer and the quicker, better athlete. Things got so bad for Taylor, the former undisputed champion, that he appeared lost at times.
Lopez was dominating the action by the end of the fight.
You can read a full report here.
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Junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas of Puerto Rico defeated Ronald Cruz of Los Angeles by a shutout decision in an eight-round fight.
All three judges scored it 80-71, eight rounds to none.
Zayas (16-0, 10 KOs) put Cruz (18-3-1, 12 KOs) down with a right hand 30 seconds after the opening bell and controlled the remainder of the fight, outboxing and outworking Cruz.
Zayas, 20, is ranked by two of the four major sanctioning bodies.
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Josh Taylor will defend his 140-pound title against former 135-pound champ Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City (ESPN, ESPN+).
The featured bouts on the card begin at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in show.
Boxing Junkie will post the results of the main event and other featured bouts immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the day of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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