Tag: Jamaine Ortiz

Teofimo Lopez retained his belt Thursday in Las Vegas. Otherwise, it was a miserable night for him, for opponent Jamaine Ortiz and for everyone watching.

Lopez defeated Ortiz by a unanimous decision – 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 — to remain a 140-pound champion in a painful-to-watch fight devoid of significant action at Mandalay Bay.

Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) had a good strategy, which was to stick and move against a more powerful opponent. His problem was that he didn’t do enough sticking, which cost him on the scorecards. Meanwhile, Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) was unable to cut off the ring or chase down the swift Ortiz, which made it impossible for him to land punches consistently.

The result was a fight that frustrated both the champion and the fans, who had absolutely nothing to cheer about during the 36 minutes of boxing.

“I tried my best for the people,” Lopez said afterward. “I even tried to box going backward, and he didn’t want to commit.”

Each man had good moments – Lopez connecting on a few eye catching punches, Ortiz sometimes standing his ground and landing in flurries – but neither of them did enough of anything to take charge of the fight.

The tech people putting together videos after the fight will have found it next to impossible to find highlights to post on social media. There were none.

Indeed, the most entertaining moment of the evening was Lopez’s circus-themed ring walk, which was meant to emphasize his new moniker, “The Showman.”

Lopez evidently won over the judges by taking the fight to Ortiz from beginning to end. It wasn’t effective aggression – which is normally required to curry favor with officials — but Ortiz’s defense-first tactics weren’t getting the job done either.

The CompuBox statistics told the story. The fighters combined to land a total of 158 punches over 12 rounds, as average of only 13 per round.

Ortiz has now ended up on the wrong end of unanimous decisions in two high-profile fights, including his loss to Vasiliy Lomacehnko in 2022.

The 27-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, was surprised by the decision.

“I stuck to the game plan,” he said. “I was listening to my corner and my team. I was doing good. I thought I was winning. That’s what I believe. I believe I won the fight. What can I say? I came up short once again.

“I just felt like he couldn’t hit me. I was making him miss all night. I was countering. I was making him miss. I was hitting him with the jab and the check hook. I just felt like he wasn’t landing any shots on me.”

Of course, the most important thing to Lopez was that he had his hand raised afterward. That allowed him to hold onto the WBO belt he won in a sensational unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor last June.

That victory re-established Lopez as one of the best in the business after his upset loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021, which damaged his reputation.

Some will say he took a step backward with his performance on Saturday. His defenders will blame Ortiz, who they will call a “runner.” More objective observes will say that special fighters find a way to counter the strategy of a 7-1 underdog.

Lopez failed to do that, instead connecting on just enough punches to pull out an uninspiring victory. He looked anything but special.

Teofimo Lopez retained his belt Thursday in Las Vegas. Otherwise, it was a miserable night for him, for opponent Jamaine Ortiz and for everyone watching.

Lopez defeated Ortiz by a unanimous decision – 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 — to remain a 140-pound champion in a painful-to-watch fight devoid of significant action at Mandalay Bay.

Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) had a good strategy, which was to stick and move against a more powerful opponent. His problem was that he didn’t do enough sticking, which cost him on the scorecards. Meanwhile, Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) was unable to cut off the ring or chase down the swift Ortiz, which made it impossible for him to land punches consistently.

The result was a fight that frustrated both the champion and the fans, who had absolutely nothing to cheer about during the 36 minutes of boxing.

“I tried my best for the people,” Lopez said afterward. “I even tried to box going backward, and he didn’t want to commit.”

Each man had good moments – Lopez connecting on a few eye catching punches, Ortiz sometimes standing his ground and landing in flurries – but neither of them did enough of anything to take charge of the fight.

The tech people putting together videos after the fight will have found it next to impossible to find highlights to post on social media. There were none.

Indeed, the most entertaining moment of the evening was Lopez’s circus-themed ring walk, which was meant to emphasize his new moniker, “The Showman.”

Lopez evidently won over the judges by taking the fight to Ortiz from beginning to end. It wasn’t effective aggression – which is normally required to curry favor with officials — but Ortiz’s defense-first tactics weren’t getting the job done either.

The CompuBox statistics told the story. The fighters combined to land a total of 158 punches over 12 rounds, as average of only 13 per round.

Ortiz has now ended up on the wrong end of unanimous decisions in two high-profile fights, including his loss to Vasiliy Lomacehnko in 2022.

The 27-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, was surprised by the decision.

“I stuck to the game plan,” he said. “I was listening to my corner and my team. I was doing good. I thought I was winning. That’s what I believe. I believe I won the fight. What can I say? I came up short once again.

“I just felt like he couldn’t hit me. I was making him miss all night. I was countering. I was making him miss. I was hitting him with the jab and the check hook. I just felt like he wasn’t landing any shots on me.”

Of course, the most important thing to Lopez was that he had his hand raised afterward. That allowed him to hold onto the WBO belt he won in a sensational unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor last June.

That victory re-established Lopez as one of the best in the business after his upset loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021, which damaged his reputation.

Some will say he took a step backward with his performance on Saturday. His defenders will blame Ortiz, who they will call a “runner.” More objective observes will say that special fighters find a way to counter the strategy of a 7-1 underdog.

Lopez failed to do that, instead connecting on just enough punches to pull out an uninspiring victory. He looked anything but special.

Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by a unanimous decision to retain his 140-pound title in a fight devoid of significant action.

The official scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 for Lopez, eight rounds to four.

Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) had a good strategy, which was to stick and move against a more powerful opponent. His problem was that he didn’t do enough sticking, which cost him on the scorecards.

Meanwhile, Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) was unable to cut off the ring, which made it impossible for him to land consistently against an elusive target.

The result was a fight that frustrated both the champion and the fans, who had nothing to cheer about.

Lopez evidently won over the judges, at least to some extent, by taking the fight to Ortiz from beginning to end. It wasn’t effective aggression but Ortiz’s tactics weren’t effective either.

The CompuBox statistics told the story. The fighters combined to land a total of 158 punches over 12 rounds, as average of 13 per round.

Regardless, Lopez left the ring with the WBO title, which he won in a sensational unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor last June.

You can read a full report here.

***

Rising lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis knocked out veteran Jose Pedraza in the sixth round of a scheduled 10-round bout.

Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KOs) fought aggressively in an apparent attempt to smother the punches of Davis. However, the strategy failed. He ended up walking into dozens of power shots and landed few of his own.

As a result, Davis (10-0, 7 KOs) broke down his Puerto Rican counterpart round by round and was never seriously challenged.

The ending was particularly brutal, as Davis landed a series of hard, accurate punches and took nothing in return. That convinced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight, saving Pedraza from further punishment.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:09 of Round 6.

The victory was the most significant in the career of the Olympic silver medalist’s pro career given the 34-year-old Pedraza’s name recognition and past success.

Davis, from Norfolk, Virginia, last fought this past October, when his majority decision victory over Nahir Albright was changed to a no-contest after Davis tested positive for marijuana. He said he has given up the drug.

***

Junior welterweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) will defend his belt against Jamaine Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs) on Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN, ESPN+).

The featured portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT. (main event later in the show).

Also on the card, Olympic silver medalist and rising 135-pound contender Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) will face veteran Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.

Boxing Junkie will post results, as well as a brief summary, immediately after the featured fights end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.

Full coverage – detailed fight stories, analysis and more – will follow on separate posts the night of the card and the following day.

Enjoy the fights!

[lawrence-related id=40670,40668]

Teofimo Lopez defeated Jamaine Ortiz by a unanimous decision to retain his 140-pound title in a fight devoid of significant action.

The official scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 for Lopez, eight rounds to four.

Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) had a good strategy, which was to stick and move against a more powerful opponent. His problem was that he didn’t do enough sticking, which cost him on the scorecards.

Meanwhile, Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) was unable to cut off the ring, which made it impossible for him to land consistently against an elusive target.

The result was a fight that frustrated both the champion and the fans, who had nothing to cheer about.

Lopez evidently won over the judges, at least to some extent, by taking the fight to Ortiz from beginning to end. It wasn’t effective aggression but Ortiz’s tactics weren’t effective either.

The CompuBox statistics told the story. The fighters combined to land a total of 158 punches over 12 rounds, as average of 13 per round.

Regardless, Lopez left the ring with the WBO title, which he won in a sensational unanimous decision victory over Josh Taylor last June.

You can read a full report here.

***

Rising lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis knocked out veteran Jose Pedraza in the sixth round of a scheduled 10-round bout.

Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KOs) fought aggressively in an apparent attempt to smother the punches of Davis. However, the strategy failed. He ended up walking into dozens of power shots and landed few of his own.

As a result, Davis (10-0, 7 KOs) broke down his Puerto Rican counterpart round by round and was never seriously challenged.

The ending was particularly brutal, as Davis landed a series of hard, accurate punches and took nothing in return. That convinced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight, saving Pedraza from further punishment.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:09 of Round 6.

The victory was the most significant in the career of the Olympic silver medalist’s pro career given the 34-year-old Pedraza’s name recognition and past success.

Davis, from Norfolk, Virginia, last fought this past October, when his majority decision victory over Nahir Albright was changed to a no-contest after Davis tested positive for marijuana. He said he has given up the drug.

***

Junior welterweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) will defend his belt against Jamaine Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs) on Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN, ESPN+).

The featured portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT. (main event later in the show).

Also on the card, Olympic silver medalist and rising 135-pound contender Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) will face veteran Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.

Boxing Junkie will post results, as well as a brief summary, immediately after the featured fights end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.

Full coverage – detailed fight stories, analysis and more – will follow on separate posts the night of the card and the following day.

Enjoy the fights!

[lawrence-related id=40670,40668]