By Ian S Palmer
Former WBA Super World, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York takes on Pedro Campa of Mexico this Saturday, August 13th. The 10-round junior welterweight bout from Las Vegas can be seen live in America on ESPN and ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Action and those in Canada can catch it on TSN 2. Lopez last fought in November when he lost a split decision and all of his titles to George Kambosos Jr in his first defence. Campa last saw action in March when he stopped Carlos Sanchez Valadez in the third round. Lopez originally won the WBA and WBO titles in October, 2020 when he beat a rather tame-looking Vasyl Lomachenko by a somewhat controversial unanimous decision and won the IBF belt 10 months earlier when he stopped Richard Commey in the second round.
The 25-year-old Lopez climbs into the ring with a mark of 16-1 with 12 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. He’s 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 of course against Kambosos.
Lopez owns better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 70.6 per cent but 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. Lopez usually stops opponents with the sheer volume of punches he throws rather than with just one shot.
He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a wingspan of 68.5 inches. Lopez made his pro debut in November, 2016 and has fought 84 rounds since. 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 a former national Golden Gloves Champion and has had no problem adapting to pro boxing.
Lopez likes to overwhelm his opponents with as many punches as possible and so far has beaten the likes of Lomachenko, Commey, Nakatani, Edis Tatli, Diego Magdaleno, Mason Menard, William Silva, Vitor Jones, Juan Pablo Sanchez and Francisco Medel. He’s got a pretty good chin but was dropped by Kambosos in the first round in his last outing and then returned the favour in the 10th round.
As for Campa, he’s 30 years old and carries an impressive record of 34-1-1 with 23 Ko’s. He’s boxed 178 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011and stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with an unlisted reach which gives him an inch edge in height on Lopez. Campa also possesses better-than-average average power with a current knockout ratio of 64 per cent.
Campa’s lone pro loss came at the hands of Carlos Jiminez in October, 2017 when he was stopped in the seventh round. His one draw was a 10-round affair with Abner Lopez in April, 2019. He’ll be taking a huge step up in class this weekend as his biggest wins so far have come against the likes of Cristian Favela, Ivan Alvarez, Jorge Pimentel, Aaron Herrera, Marvin Quintero, Juan Antonio Rodriguez, Adrian Perez and Carlos Cardenas.
Prediction…
It’s possible that Lopez is somewhat overrated but he’s still a world-class boxer. He’s moving up in weight from 135 to 140 lbs but Campa has obviously been selected as his opponent for a reason. Lopez is expected to win and he likely will but it’ll be interesting to see just how effective he is at the new weight and if he’s suffering any after-effects of losing the belts to Kambosos. Lopez should win but how he goes about it will be the bigger story here.
