A marquee championship boxing match will be coming your way on Thursday night, the week of Super Bowl LVIII. WBO World Super Lightweight and Ring Magazine champion Teofimo Lopez, one of boxing’s brightest young stars, will defend his titles against 17-1-1 challenger Jamaine Ortiz. Keyshawn Davis will take c0-main event billing when he takes on Jose Pedraza for three separate championships.
Fight fans can catch Lopez vs. Ortiz streaming live on ESPN+, with the main event set to begin around 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
The Return of Teofimo Lopez
Lopez has recovered nicely from a seemingly debilitating split decision defeat at the hands of George Kambosos Jr. back in November 2021. Kambosos has gone on to become a name fighter in boxing himself in recent years, while Lopez has since rattled off three straight victories, the latest and greatest of which came against Scottish superstar Josh Taylor back in June. Following the unanimous decision victory, Lopez elected to announce his retirement from the sport, though as many speculated at the time, the “retirement” would be short-lived, and he now finds himself returning to the ring on the week of the Super Bowl as he looks to handle a game challenger.
Lopez has also been angling for a fight all week with Terence Crawford, Ring Magazine’s No. 1-rated pound-for-pound fighter and the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. Crawford showed up to Wednesday’s weigh-ins, so while there appears to be some interest from both sides, it remains to be seen if that fight will be made later this year. Lopez also conversed with Davis, Thursday’s co-main event fighter, on a hot-mic at the pre-fight press conference over beef stemming from Davis opining that Crawford would beat Lopez if they ever were to fight.
In the meantime, Lopez will need to get past a tough customer in Ortiz. “The Technician” has lost just once in his professional career to Vasyl Lomachenko back in 2022, and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Moran last September.
Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz Results
Main Card
Teofimo Lopez def. Jamaine Ortiz via Unanimous Decision — For the WBO World Super Lightweight and Ring Magazine Championships
Keyshawn Davis def. Jose Pedraza via TKO at 1:09 of Round 6 — For the WBC USA, WBO Intercontinental, and IBF USABF Lightweight Championships
Prelims
Rene Tellez Giron def. George Acosta via Unanimous Decision
Javier Martinez def. Raul Salomon via Unanimous Decision
Abdullah Mason def. Benjamin Gurment via KO at 4:29 of Round 2
Charlie Sheehy def. Abdel Sauceda via Unanimous Decision
Alan Garcia def. Tomas Ornelas via Knockout at :51 of Round 1
Lemir Isom-Riley def Antonio Zepeda via TKO at 1:28 of Round 3
Art Barrera Jr. def. Michael Portales via TKO at 1:41 of Round 1
