Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez – Who wins?
Can a “Tornado” from Edinburgh “Takeover” New York on Saturday night?
Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (19-0, 13KO) travels over 3,000 miles to defend his WBO and Ring Magazine titles to American Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (18-1, 13KO) on Saturday, June 10 at Madison Square Garden.
Check out BBN's breakdown of this highly-anticipated clash:
The Numbers
The stats behind this fight give a clear indication of how close this matchup is. Both boxers have had 19 bouts each with the same number of KOs – 13. However, Lopez has one reverse on his record, whereas Taylor is undefeated.
But there are recent fights for each that hung in the balance, so these records could easily have been swapped around. Lopez and his team strongly believe he beat George Kambosos Jr. in 2021 and was on the wrong side of the split decision verdict, so he’s perhaps a little unfortunate not to be 19-0, and nearly every spectator had Jack Catterall beating Taylor in his last fight last year, so he is possibly a little lucky not to be 18-1 right now.
Putting their records aside, even their opponents’ records are almost identical! Despite Taylor’s previous six unbeaten opponents he’s scalped being 133-0 between them, it’s actually Lopez’s opponents with the more impressive combined records. Taylor’s 19 opponents’ records combine to 350-68 and Lopez’s total 361-64 – just slightly more wins and less losses.
In terms of stature, it’s Taylor who takes it as a fully fledged 140-pounder. The Scot stands at 5’10”, 2” taller than Lopez, who moved up from lightweight in 2022, and also has an inch deficit in reach too.
Amateur Careers
Lopez won U.S. Olympic Trials but Carlos Balderas had already secured the United States' sole lightweight entry into the Olympics as the AIBA’s World Series of Boxing champion.
The Brooklynite was able to qualify for the Honduran team instead, where his parents are from, and reached the finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas to earn his place in Rio 2016, where he lost to eventual silver medalist, Sofiane Oumiha.
His first ever award was an amateur bronze medal in the U.S. National Youth Championships 2014, his amateur career highlight was when he won the 2015 National Golden Gloves tournament. He reportedly ran his record 150-20.
Taylor was a jumior world taekwondo champion before turning to boxing, aged 15. He spent a short time at Meadowbank ABC and then moved onto Lochend ABC under coach Terry McCormack of Edinburgh.
He won a 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games silver medal, then was crowned National champion in 2010 and 2011, then became the first lightweight Scottish boxer to qualify for the Olympics (London 2012) since Melbourne 1956 gold medallist Dick McTaggart.
In the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, he went one better to win the gold. Similarly to Lopez, Josh says he had over 150 amateur bouts and also participated in World Championships.
Professional Careers
“The Tartan Tornado” is the former undisputed junior welterweight champion, having collected all four major titles in a remarkable four-fight run that included wins over Ivan Baranchyk, Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez. He debuted in the paid ranks in 2015 and captured a Commonwealth title in his second year before defeating fellow unbeaten prospect Ohara Davies via seventh-round TKO in their grudge match. The 32-year-old then beat former world champions Miguel Vazquez and Viktor Postol before entering the World Boxing Super Series in 2018. Taylor stopped then-undefeated contender Ryan Martin via TKO before capturing his first world title with a decision victory over Baranchyk. His impressive wins over Prograis and Ramirez left no doubt as to who is the world’s supreme 140-pound practitioner. Taylor returns over one year after his last performance, a competitive, somewhat dubious, split decision nod over Jack Catterall. He comes into the fight having beaten six undefeated fighters in a row, with a combined record of 133-0.
“The Takever” is the former unified and lineal lightweight champion of the world. In December 2019, he captured the IBF title with an explosive second-round knockout of Richard Commey. The following October, he bested pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko to win the WBA, WBO, and WBC Franchise titles. 13 months later, he lost the belts via split decision to George Kambosos Jr. The 25-year-old then made his super-lightweight debut in August 2022 by stopping Pedro Campa in the seventh round. Last December, Lopez edged Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin by split decision. Before becoming world champion, he was the buzz of the boxing world with highlight-reel knockouts over Diego Magdaleno and Mason Menard.
Last Fights
Taylor’s last fight, in February 2022, saw him retain his undisputed belts via a controversial split decision over fierce rival Jack Catterall. One judge was even called in front of the British Board to explain his scoring, then was subsequently downgraded.
The Prestonpans puncher was perplexed and frustrated by ‘El Gato’ for the first eight rounds, where Catterall’s style wouldn’t allow the Scot to get into any kind of rhythm. Taylor didn’t look himself that night, many noted how drawn he appeared at the weigh-in, so it was a bit of an off-night, but it was also largely down to how incredibly classy Catterall boxed, behind his long reach and clever jab. Taylor rallied back in the championship rounds but he wasn’t able to overcome the deficit, yet the judges gave it to him anyway.
Lopez also struggled in his last fight with Sandor Martin, suffering an early knockdown and one ringside judge scoring the contest to the Spaniard. The New Yorker seemed a little predictable at times, coming forward and backwards in straight lines, which was how Martin was able to score his knockdown, as he watched him coming in, to land his check hook at the right time to send him down.
Styles
Technically brilliant, Taylor can fight a variety of ways from his tricky southpaw stance. He is an exceptional counter puncher and is one of the best inside fighters in the world. He can fight at long, mid and close range. He likes to get in close to sit in the pocket where he can use his fluid movement to evade shots with his side to side motion where he manages to find openings to land his rhythmic shots.
Taylor is great at reading opponents, you can tell he is always thinking in there. In his fight with Jose Carlos Ramirez in 2021, he really had his number from around the fifth onwards. He waits to catch his opponent’s shot on his gloves to fire back quickly with his own. It was his ring IQ and the data he collected from Ramirez that was the catalyst to score two knockdowns against him, catching him wide open both times.
Lopez is a fantastic counter puncher with power. He is mostly comfortable at range, where he can land his sharp jab, which comes from down low as he holds his left arm in a sling. He is quite a stand-up tall fighter that likes to double, triple up his shots, which vary from head to body. He has fast hands, that come in threes and fours, and they land with weight behind them too.
His head movement isn’t the best in the world, relying on his feet to get him in and out of range. But his best defence is often his workrate; he is a very busy, hardworking fighter. Just ask Lomachenko, he landed more punches on the Ukrainian than any other fighter.
Against Sandor Martin, in his last fight, Lopez came forward in straight lines and his predictability meant Martin was able to land a check right hook on his way backwards to the ropes to knock Lopez down. It’s worth noting that Sandor’s southpaw stance frustrated Lopez and caused many problems for him.
Betting Odds
Defending champion Taylor is the favourite to win at 4/7 with Betway, while Lopez is a slight outsider at 6/4. Odds for a draw are 17/1.
Predictions
Taylor cuts a confident figure when appearing in interviews and at the final press conference. Lopez will also be confident, too, especially as the home fighter that was brought up only a few miles from the venue.
It’s a fantastic clash of styles involving two big characters with almost identical records.
Lopez will be looking to fight this fight at long range, but Taylor will be aiming to step in closer at mid to close range where he can volley off his best work. It’ll be intriguing to see just who can implement their gameplan in that ring.
Taylor will be the bigger man on the night, with Lopez moving up from lightweight, so that is a big advantage to have.
Because Lopez comes forward in straight lines, Taylor may be able to study him, collect data, make the correct calculations and land some quick, clean, scoring shots.
Taylor has exceptional ring IQ and can fight in such a variety of different ways, plus his size and reach advantages too… it’s all adding up for him to make a statement on Saturday night.
It’s vital he avoids getting caught cleanly by hard-hitting Lopez. They may share the same number of knockouts, but Lopez hits harder, and Taylor has to break opponents down to get his stoppages. If Lopez lands enough clean punches, there’s a chance he could do damage to Taylor’s face and vision to force a stoppage, or one of his big shots could stop the fight in an instant, as he has iced a few foes out in showreel fashion. But, that said, Taylor has only been knocked down once in his career and Lopez has been down three times, twice in his last three bouts. So, perhaps it’s the American who is more vulnerable in this fight?
In conclusion, Taylor has more in his locker than Lopez and is the bookies favourite to win.
Verdict: Taylor to win on points.
