By Ian S Palmer
Former WBA Super World, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York defends his WBO International Super Lightweight Title this weekend with a 10-round battle against Sandor Martin of Spain. The bout from New York City’s Madison Square Garden can be seen live in America on 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 August when he stopped Pedro Campa in the seventh round. Martin last saw action in April when he beat Jose Felix via a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBA International Super Lightweight Belt.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 09: Teofimo Lopez (L) and Sandor Martin (R) pose during the weigh in prior to their December 10 junior welterweight fight at Madison Square Garden on December 09, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
The 25-year-old Lopez climbs into the ring with a mark of 17-1 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 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. 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 of course against Kambosos. He appeared to be back in top form against Campa earlier this year though.
Lopez owns better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 72.2 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 68.5-inch reach and has boxed 91 rounds 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 likes to overwhelm his opponents with as many punches as possible and so far has beaten the likes of Campa, 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 of their outing and then returned the favour in the 10th round.
Martin isn’t very well known outside of Europe, where hes the former Super Lightweight Champion, but most boxing fans around the world were a bit shocked when he beat former world champion Mikey Garcia by 10-round majority decision last year to make a name for himself. He’s a 29 year-old southpaw with an impressive mark of 40-2 with 13 Ko’s and has boxed 274 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011. Martin, who also has experience as a kickboxer, stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach.
The Spaniard doesn’t really possess much in the way of power in his fists though as his current knockout ratio is just 31 per cent. He won the Spanish Super Lightweight Title in 2014 with a technical decision over Ignacio Mendoza and first captured the European Belt in 2015 via a unanimous decision over Samuele Esposito. He then added the WBC Youth Silver Super Lightweight Title in 2015 when he stopped Gyorgy Mizsei in the fourth round.
The first loss suffered by Martin came at the hands of Alexandre Lepelley by an eight-round decision in 2013. He also lost to Anthony Yigit by12-round unanimous decision in 2017 when he lost the European Belt. He regained the vacant title two years later though when he beat Andrea Scarpa after the ninth round. Martin has fine boxing skills and his win over Garcia proved he can’t be taken lightly once the bell rings.
Prediction…
It’s possible that Lopez is somewhat overrated but he’s still a world-class boxer. He’s fighting at 140 lbs for just the second time but looked highly impressive at his new weight against Campa as his speed and power were in fine form. Lopez is expected to win but Martin could frustrate him especially if he can handle his power. Lopez should win but it’s going to be interesting how he handles Martin’s slick skills.
