By Craig Daly: Sandor Martin predicts that WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis will “destroy” Teofimo Lopez next if the New Yorker goes in that direction for his next fight. Teo already made it clear after the fight that he wants WBO 140-lb champion Josh Taylor, not Prograis.
Understandably, the Mexican warrior Martin (40-3, 13 KOs) was bitter after losing a controversial 10 round split decision over the hometown fighter Teofimo (18-1, 13 KOs) last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
While most of the fans on social media had Martin, 29, winning the fight, two of the judges scored it or Teofimo by 96-93 and 97-92.
The third judge had Martin winning 95-94. This writer had Martin winning 9-1 in dominating fashion. Teofimo looked clueless the entire fight, looking lost the entire time in the same way he had in his defeat last year against George Kambosos Jr.
“Regis Prograis would kill him. Prograis would kill him, 100%,” said Sandor Martin after his controversial loss to Teofimo Lopez last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Teofimo Lopez: “You didn’t want to commit with me. You were running; you know that. You didn’t want to fight. I was touching you. What’s wrong with your nose. What’s wrong with your lip?
Sandor Martin: “That was the first round from your head, man.”
Teofimo: “You was running the whole time. Every time you committed, I counted, and I hit you. That’s why you was running. This was a boring a** fight; I can’t believe it.”
What was telling was Teofimo repeatedly asking his corner after the fight, “Do I still got it?” As bad as Teofimo looked last night against Sandor Martin and his previous fight against Pedro Campa, he doesn’t have it anymore. He looks like a ruined fighter.
It would be a good idea for Teofimo to reach out to George Kambosos Jr and see if he can bring him into his camp to teach him to get his mojo back.
With Kambosos’s help, Teofimo might be able to recapture the essence of what he was before the Aussie ruined him with his masterclass performance last year.
Teofimo appeared lost the entire fight, and some feel that the Australian Kambosos ruined him mentally permanently with the way he outboxed him last year. Kambosos messed with Teofimo’s mind before, during, and after the fight, and he hasn’t looked the same ever since.
Since that fight, Teofimo has looked lost inside the ring, and he doesn’t have the same confident swagger he once had before Kambosos got to him. Teofimo doesn’t look sure of himself now, and he appears to lose confidence after getting countered.
Last night, Teofimo looked afraid to throw a punch because he frequently paid the price each time he would let his hands go, with Sandor landing right hook counters to the head.
Teofimo was dropped in the second round from a right hook counter from Sandor and then put down in the seventh round. Shockingly, the referee ruled the seventh round knockdown was a slip, thus giving Teofimo a considerable break. On replay, it was clear that a clean punch had dropped Teofimo by Sandor.
