PREVIEW: Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez
WBO Super-Lightweight titleholder Josh Taylor will defend his belt for the third time against former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night, June 10th. The bout will headline a Top Rank Boxing card on ESPN/ESPN+ from Madison Square Garden.
Back in 2021, Taylor (19-0, 13 KO) became the undisputed champion at 140-pounds after outpointing Jose Ramirez. Unfortunately, he was only able to successfully defend his championship once before eventually getting stripped of three of his four belts after being unable to keep up with the mandatories for those sanctioning bodies. His most recent outing was a highly controversial decision win over Jack Catterall in February 2022.
Lopez (18-1, 13 KO) will be competing in his first world title fight since losing his lightweight titles to George Kambosos Jr back in November 2021. Since then, he’s racked up two wins: a 7th round TKO of Pedro Campa and a narrow split decision win over Sandor Martin last time out. Now, Lopez will be aiming to capture a world title in his second weight class.
Taylor-Lopez is one of the best match-ups of the year, and while it may not be for all the belts, it should determine the best super-lightweight and lineal champion—a title which Taylor still holds. Over the last year though, the division has opened up, with Regis Prograis, Rolando Romero and Subriel Matias all winning titles.
This fight is not to be missed, with so much on the line at MSG on Saturday night. Can Teofimo Lopez re-discover his best form and claim a monumental win to become a two-weight world champion? Will Josh Taylor solidify himself as the best 140-pounder on the planet and prove his doubters wrong? Time will tell!
Fighter’s Form (last 5 fights):
Josh Taylor
Jack Catterall - WIN by SD (114-111, 113-112, 112-113) - 26/02/2022
Jose Ramirez - WIN by UD (114-112, 114-112, 114-112) - 22/05/2021
Apinun Khongsong - WIN by KO 1 - 26/09/2020
Regis Prograis - WIN by MD (117-112, 115-113, 114-114) - 26/10/2019
Ivan Baranchyk - WIN by UD (117-109, 115-111, 115-111) - 18/05/2019
Teofimo Lopez
Sandor Martin - WIN by SD (97-92, 96-93, 94-95) - 10/12/2022
Pedro Campa - WIN by TKO 7 - 13/08/2022
George Kambosos Jr - LOSS by SD (115-111, 115-112, 113-114) - 27/11/2021
Vasiliy Lomachenko - WIN by UD (119-109, 117-111, 116-112) - 17/10/2020
Richard Commey - WIN by TKO 2 - 14/12/2019
Event Information:
Date: June 10th, 2023
Time: 3am (GMT), 7pm (PT), 10pm (ET)
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA
Channel: ESPN/ESPN+
Elsewhere on the card...
In the co-main event, rising super-weltereweight Xander Zayas (15-0, 10 KO) will take on Ronald Cruz (18-2-1, 12 KO) in an eight-round bout at 154-pounds. Also on the card is Henry Lebron (17-0, 10 KO), facing off against Carlos Ramos (17-2, 10 KO) in a 10-round super-featherweight match-up.