Las Vegas, NV – Teofimo Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) controversially defeated Jamaine Ortiz (17-2-1, 8 KOs) tonight at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Many believe Ortiz did enough for the judges to rule in his favor. Compubox recorded a two-punch difference in total punches landed between Teofimo (78) and Ortiz (80). Indicating a close fight whereby the margin of victory should have been minimal.
The judges’ scorecards mirrored each other for the most part, with the exception of one, with the judges scoring it 113-115, 113-115, and 111-117 unanimously for Lopez.
Jamaine Ortiz’s output was significantly lower for this fight than his previous matches. He fought at a distance, limited the exchanges and utilized the entire ring with movement. Lopez was the aggressor, chasing Ortiz throughout the entire ring.
Although he threw less punches than Ortiz, he was slightly more effective connecting on 78 of his 284 punches thrown for a 21 percent connect percentage. Ortiz threw 409 punches and connected on 80 of them for a 20 percent connect percentage (Compubox).
At the post-fight QA, Lopez stated he would rate his performance a 10 out of 10. Saying he did everything he could do, hit Ortiz with the shots he needed to hit him with him, was quick on his feet and defensive.
Lopez stated that in the buildup to the fight Jamaine ripped the fight poster and talked smacked but was not willing to fight when it came the time to fight. When questioned if he lost rounds, he said, “How can I lose a round when there’s a guy not really being effective? It’s not. The early rounds too, it was not it….it could look like this and that, but I’m blocking, slipping, moving, c’mon, I thought we knew boxing guys. That’s all defense, remember Willy Pep, he won one round without throwing a punch, where’s that at?”
Jamaine Ortiz’s reaction at the post-fight Q&A was one of disbelief, stating that he did what he came to do and believed he had the fight in the bag. He was surprised at the judges’ scorecards and believes he won the fight.
According to Ortiz, there was no rematch clause for him, but there was one if Lopez lost. Who Lopez fights next after this match is something we’ll have to wait and see.
One thing that appears certain is that Teofimo’s next match is set to take place in his father’s home country, Honduras. Teofimo stated post fight that his next match will be for Latin America and will take place in Honduras.
