By Mark Eisner: In a shaky performance, former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (17-1, 13 KOs) defeated veteran Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 KOs) by a seventh round stoppage on Saturday night in the headliner at the Resorts World in Las Vegas.

Lopez, 25, landed the harder shots in each round, but was hit a lot by the lighter punching Campa. In the seventh, Teofimo knocked Campa down. Soon after, the referee halted the contest. The time of the stoppage was at 2:14 of the seventh.

Undercard results

Undefeated 154-lb prospect Xander Zayas (14-0, 10 KOs) showed his youth tonight, getting hit a lot en route to stopping Elias Espadas (22-5, 15 KOs) in the fifth round. The official time of the stoppage was at :23 of round five. Zayas, 19, knocked Espadas down with a beautiful left hook in the first round. In the fifth, Zayas dropped Espadas with a left, followed by a hard right hand. Referee Russell Mora pulled the plug on the contest after Espadas got back to his feet. Although Espadas looked capable of continuing to fight, the contest was halted.
Featherweight Jose Enrique Vivas (22-2, 11 KOs) had to battle hard to defeat Edy Valencia (19-8-6, 7 KOs) by an eight-round split decision. The judges’ scores were 78-74, and 77-75 for Vivas, and 77-75 for Valencia.
Undefeated super featherweight Andres Cortes (18-0, 10 KOs) won an easy eight-round unanimous decision over Abraham Montoya (20-4-1, 14 KOs). The judges’ scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 79-73.
Unbeaten middleweight prospect Troy Isley (7-0, 4 KO) kept his perfect record intact with a one-sided six-round unanimous decision over Victor Toney (6-2-1, 5 KOs). The scores were 60-54, 59-55, and 59-55.
Featherweight prospect Duke Ragan (7-0, 1 KO) defeated D’Angelo Fuentes (7-1, 4 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision. The judges scored it 58-56, 58-56, and 59-55.
Light welterweight Omar Rosario (8-0, 2 KOs) used his volume punching to defeat Esteban Munoz (6-2, 4 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision. The scores were 58-56, 58-56, and 58-56.
Unbeaten lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (4-0, 3 KOs) defeated Juan Castaneda (2-1-2, 0 KOs) by a four-round unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36.

Preview:

“I’m focused, determined, disciplined,” said Teofimo Lopez to Max on Boxing. “I’ve been undefeated on the scale 188 times. I’m just here to shock the world again.

“I feel the greatest right now. Those last three, four lbs were killing me [to make weight at 135]. So, it’s all about not worrying about that and taking my time with everything, and focusing on what’s going to be the best stage for me. That’s the 140-lb division right now.

“I look at it like this. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and the nicer it looks. I’m someone that is more about just entertaining the crowd more than anything. The knockout will come.

“I have power in both hands; I’m quick, I’m intelligent when I’m in the ring, as you guys can see from my last performance against Vasily Lomachenko outside of Kambosos.

“I’m focused and determined and want to give everybody an eye-candy performance.

“It’s not stupid at all,” said Teofimo when asked if getting hit by Thor resulted in his physical problems against Kambosos.

“I should have called Duane Rock Johnson to hit me in the stomach. I’m a crazy a** kid. That’s what it is. I’m a risk taker all the time. It’s not because of what Thor did. It’s because of the amount of fluctuation in weight.

“The drops and drops, the continuous drops of going down to 135. I have been fighting at 135 since I was 14 years old. So that was basically ten years in that weight class. Of course, it’s going to do something to your body.

“I’m happy now at 140. I feel great, my energy is up the roof, and give everybody a show. This isn’t a take-back. This is the takeover x 2. See this crown here; it says, ‘Five times.’ I’m looking to be ten times champion in two different divisions.

“I did it at 135, and now I’m looking forward to 140. Basically, my main prime goal is to become a two-time undisputed world champion. It’s how we do it.

“There’s the likes of Josh Taylor. I know they’re lining up with the WBC for Pedraza and Prograis. So these are match-ups that are going to come up in the near future, and we’re definitely going to put it out there and give you guys a show to make these fights happen.

“That’s what the fans want and need,” said Teofimo.

In the highly anticipated return, former unified 135-lb champion Teofimo Lopez fights tonight against Pedro Campa in his debut at 140 on ESPN at the World Resorts Las Vegas. Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs) and Campa (34-1-1, 23 KOs) are headlining a card that begins at 10:00 p.m ET on ESPN and ESPN+.

In the chief support bout, 154-lb prospect Xander Zayes fights Elias Espadas.