By Ian S Palmer
Original article: https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/teofimo-lopez-vs-jamaine-ortiz-betting-odds-and-prediction/22725/
Current Ring Magazine and WBO Super Lightweight Champion and former WBA Super World, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York defends his title against Jamaine Ortiz of Worcester, Massachusetts this Thursday, February 8th. The 12-rounder from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in America on the ESPN platform while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Arena and those in Canada can catch it on TSN 2. Lopez was last in the ring in June December when he edged Josh Martin for the WBO and Ring Titles while Ortiz last fought in September when he beat Antonio Moran via a 10-round unanimous decision.
The 26-year-old Lopez climbs into the ring with a mark of 19-1 with 13 Ko’s and is former multiple world title holder who also held the NABF, WBC Continental Americas, USBA, and NABA-USA Lightweight Belts earlier in his career. Lopez originally won the WBA and WBO Lightweight Titles in October, 2020 when he beat a rather tame-looking Vasyl Lomachenko by a somewhat controversial unanimous decision and had won the IBF belt 10 months earlier when he stopped Richard Commey in the second round.
However, he lost a split decision and all of his titles to George Kambosos Jr in his first defence in November, 2021 in a fight which saw Lopez down in the first round and Kambosos on the deck in the 10th. Lopez is regarded as one of the sport’s top prospects due to his whirlwind, non-stop style and power but struggled against Masayoshi Nakatani in July 2019 as well as against Lomachenko in the last half of their fight and also against Sandor Martin in another controversial win, this time by split decision over 10 rounds in December, 2022.
Lopez owns better-than-average power as 68.2 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in five of his last five fights. Lopez isn’t really a one-punch KO artist even though he nailed Richard Commey perfectly in the second round of their December, 2019 bout to win the IBF crown. He typically stops opponents with the sheer volume of punches he throws rather than with just one shot. Lopez stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68.5-inch and has 113rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in November, 2016.
He enjoyed a fine amateur career and fought for Honduras at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he lost in the first round of competition. He’s also a former national Golden Gloves Champion and has had no problem adapting to pro boxing. Lopez has also beaten the likes of Edis Tatli, Diego Magdaleno, Mason Menard, William Silva, Vitor Jones, Juan Pablo Sanchez and Francisco Medel.
The 27-year-old Ortiz makes the ring walk with a fine mark of 17-1-1 with 8 Ko’s and has boxed 109 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016. He enjoyed a pretty good amateur career but was beaten by the likes of Jaron Ennis, Abraham Nova and Gary Antuanne Russell before turning pro. Ortiz and Lopez also met in the amateurs with Lopez beating him on points in the 2015 USA National Golden Gloves Final. Ortiz also measures 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69-inch reach so has a minimal half-inch edge in reach on the champion.
The lone draw on his record was an eight-round majority affair with Joseph Adorno fights ago in April, 2021. He beat former world champion Jamel Herring via a 10-round unanimous decision to retain the NABF Lightweight Crown and win the vacant IBF USBA Belt in May, 2022 and then took another step up in class against Vasyl Lomachenko and handled himself quite well but lost a 12-round unanimous decision in October 2022. Ortiz has also beaten of Derrick Murray, Vitor Jones and Romain Couture.
Since turning pro Ortiz has also captured the vacant WBC Youth World Lightweight Title, the vacant WBC Youth Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Belt and the vacant WBC (USNBC) Silver Lightweight Title. Ortiz also took the vacant NABF Lightweight Championship with his win over Nahir Albright in February, 2022. As far as power goes, Ortiz is just average as 47.1 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in his past five outings.
Prediction…
Lopez has been inconsistent over the past few years as he either struggles mightily or appears to be unbeatable but he does possess enough power to stop a fight with one shot. Ortiz is a solid boxer who lacks power but has the skills to be a thorn in the champion’s side. An Ortiz win wouldn’t come as a big surprise as I don’t think Lopez will hold onto his belt for very long but I don’t really think Ortiz is the man to take it from him. I’m expecting Lopez to retain the belts for now in a pretty close fight, just like in their Golden Gloves amateur final.
