Teofimo Lopez wins unanimous decision in awful fight that drops both fighters' stock

LAS VEGAS -- There is no other way to say it. The fight sucked. It was awful. If I could have left, I would have, and I love boxing.

Teofimo Lopez won a unanimous decision over Jamaine Ortiz before 6,206 at the Michelob Ultra Center Thursday by scores of 115-113 twice and 117-111 to retain his WBO super lightweight title. Ortiz was on his bike the entire fight and didn't want to engage, preferring to flick jabs from the outside and avoid danger. Lopez, though, didn't look like a star on this night. He couldn't cut off the ring and he swung and missed at an alarming rate.

It was an awful, dreadful bout on both sides, and the crowd justifiably booed lustily throughout and during the post-fight interviews in the ring.

Lopez landed just 32.5 percent of his shots -- 66 of 203 -- but Ortiz only connected on 60 of 205. Lopez angrily blasted Ortiz in the ring for not coming to fight, and while that was true, a part of a powerful attack-oriented fighter's job is to cut off the ring and take away the space from a fighter like that.

Lopez failed that task miserably, as pound-for-pound No. 1 Terence Crawford pointed out on X. Lopez had called out Crawford but that performance set him back a ways.

It was a puzzling performance by Lopez because he had to know that Ortiz would fight that way, and he seemed totally unprepared for it.

Crawford eats guys like that for lunch. Lopez needs to spend a lot of time in the gym working on the fundamentals. He has all the qualities of a big-time star -- his ring walk was awesome, as he wore a ringmaster's suit replete with a top hat -- but he needs to dispose of guys like Ortiz without getting into a life-and-death battle.

Lopez was a 7-1 favorite and the elite fighters regularly drill those types of opponents. Ortiz, though, was very much in the bout. KevinIole.com had it a draw, 114-114, but even if you side with Lopez for going forward and score the bout for him, it was a win that in actuality was a loss.

In a fight that was set up as a showcase for him, it’s unlikely he made any new fans who are in town for the Super Bowl and who may have headed down to check out the fight. Lopez tried to be a populist and bemoan Ortiz’s strategy, but he just wasn’t prepared the way he needed to fight the style of opponent he faced.

"I tried my best for the people," Lopez said. "I even tried to box going backward and he didn’t want to commit.”

While Lopez is the star, the higher paid of the two and the guy with the greater recognition, Ortiz deserves a lot of bashing for this performance, too. It all can’t be laid at the feet of Lopez. Ortiz had previously lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko at lightweight and was hurt badly in his last bout by Antonio Moran.

In no way should Ortiz have stood toe-to-toe and slugged with Lopez, but he needed to put forth some semblance of an offense. Insead, he looked clueless, like the Pittsburgh Steelers running Matt Canada’s offense. Ortiz spent most of the fight circling the ring the way that Oscar De La Hoya did in the same arena nearly a quarter of a century ago in the final rounds against Felix Trinidad.

De La Hoya ran circles in the final four rounds to lose that fight, and that's what Ortiz did for pretty much all 12 on Thursday.

Still, Lopez had to do better than he did. He shrugged off a call-out by Keyshawn Davis, who kayoed Jose Pedraza on the undercard, and said he wanted Crawford. Had he looked fantastic, maybe some might have considered it. Given what he did, who would want to see that match now?

“Glory is next for me," Lopez said. "None of these guys want to fight me. I’ll fight Crawford at a catchweight. I’m here. I’m ready. I’ve always been ready. I’m younger, prettier, and a two-time unified champion at 25.”

That may be true, but he and Jamaine Ortiz stunk out the joint on Thursday. He needs to clean up his mess before he even thinks of anyone like Crawford again.

Anyone who saw that would agree.