By Mark Eisner: Teofimo Lopez returns to the ring to headline against replacement opponent Sandor Martin on ESPN & ESPN+ from Madison Square Garden in New York. The main portion of the event starts at 9:00 p.m. ET.
It’s an important fight for the 25-year-old ESPN house fighter Teofimo (17-1, 13 KOs) to show that he’s got the goods to become a star. Mentally, Teofimo looks VERY shaky, and his loss to George Kambosos Jr last year showed that he’s not an elite fighter.
Undercard
Jared Anderson vs. Jerry Forrest
Xander Zayas vs. Alexis Salazar
Keyshawn Davis vs. Juan Carlos Burgos
Joe Ward vs. Frederic Julan
Damian Knyba vs. Emilio Salas
Tiger Johnson vs. Mike Ohan Jr
Moving up to 140 hasn’t changed anything, as he looked just as poor in his debut in the new weight class against Pedro Campa as he had against Kambosos.
It’s painfully obvious from watching Teofimo’s last two fights that Top Rank got it wrong with him, and that’s not the fighter they thought he was.
Teofimo is being matched against a B-level guy in Martin (40-2,13 KOs), and if he doesn’t look and/or loses again, Top Rank will need to start thinking about dumping him.
Boxing News 24 will be giving live updates & results below.
In the co-feature bout, heavyweight fringe contender/prospect Jared Anderson (12-0, 12 KO) faces journeyman Jerry Forrest (26-5-2, 20 KO) in a 10 round fight. Despite having a lot of knockouts, the 6’4″ Anderson isn’t a big puncher.
Forrest will be the bigger puncher in this fight. Anderson has good size & boxing skills, which should be enough for him to win tonight as long as he doesn’t get clipped by one of Forrest’s heavy shots.
Top Rank is grooming the 23-year-old Anderson to turn him into a world champion, but they’re going to have to be careful with the way they match him because his defense is porous, and he’ll be vulnerable to getting knocked out if they throw him in with punchers like Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua.
Andre Ward: “I think this may be a tough fight for Teofimo,” said Ward to Max on Boxing. “Martin may be a trap fight because Teo has a lot of pressure on him because he’s on Heisman night. It’s going to be difficult against Martin because he’s a guy that boxes.
“He allows you to do all the heavy lifting, make the mistakes, and then he tries to counter, and he’s also a really good boxer. So Teo has got to be on point. Not just physically, not just with his training camp, but mentally, he’s got to be in the right space.”
Max Kellerman: “I’m looking at his [Teofimo] second fight at 140. His first time out [against Pedro] Campa, he looked good, boxed well, but his punches didn’t have the same authority as they did at lightweight. What are you looking for here?
Tim Bradley: “Going from 135 to 140, I think he’s [Teofimo] an accumulation type of puncher now. I don’t think he’s one of those one-punch guys, get them up out of there. I will say this. After watching his last performance, one, he needs to stay off the ropes.
“If Martin gets him against the ropes, he’s going to pick & poke his way to victory. I would say also, he needs to get more disciplined with his defense. Sometimes, he needs to get a bit complacent inside the ring, and when he does, those are moments that Martin is going to make him pay.
“I think, all in all, Teo is going to win the fight. I think the punching power is going to make the difference. The fact that he’s an explosive puncher and a great counterpunch. Martin counters, but he doesn’t counter often enough.”
Kellerman: “Teo is a different kind of athlete. With the 139 pounds he weighed in, he looked good. He didn’t look healthy at lightweight. He looked healthy and in shape at 140, coming in a pound under the limit.”
