Last night at the James L. Knight Center in Miami Beach, Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (21-1-0, 13 KOs) successfully defended his WBO super lightweight world title against Canadian challenger Steve Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs), winning by unanimous decision. The official scorecards, all decisively in favor of the champion, read: 119-109 and two scores of 120-108.
The fight, somewhat repetitive in its tactical pattern, saw the sturdy challenger employ a courageous pressing strategy in an attempt to stifle Lopez’s action. Lopez, on the other hand, moved agilely on his feet, countering with his usual timing and coordination. After a couple of not particularly brilliant rounds, which served to get him warmed up, The Takeover started to let his hands go, producing numerous applaud-worthy actions for his timing and clean execution throughout the match. The intrepid Claggett, however, was rarely in real danger of hitting the canvas and continued to absorb punches and press forward until the final bell.
Many noted at the end of the fight that Lopez’s knockout percentage has significantly decreased since moving up from lightweight to super lightweight. Since then, he has only knocked out one of the five opponents he has faced, a statistic that raises some concerns among Takeover’s fans in light of rumors suggesting he might move up another weight class. Lopez himself amplified these rumors in the post-fight interview:
“To be real – I’m going to be frank with you guys – I feel like with this weight cut and everything, my body’s growing. And although it don’t look like I can handle myself at 147 [pounds], I believe I can. I truly believe I can, and I want these great champions.”
If Lopez does decide to move up to welterweight, he could face the fresh WBO Interim champion Brian Norman Jr., who will likely soon be elevated to full champion status due to Terence Crawford’s decision to move up to super welterweight.