Teofimo Lopez made a successful return and move up to the 140 lb division tonight, stopping Pedro Campa in the seventh round of their ESPN main event in Las Vegas.
Lopez (17-1, 13 KO) hadn’t fought since a stunning upset loss against George Kambosos Jr last November, and there were some questions about his mindset and preparation, how dialed in he might be for this bout, which was a carefully-chosen rust-shaker against Campa (34-2-1, 23 KO), an opponent with an undeniably inflated record.
But Campa did come to fight, didn’t look intimidated by the heavily-favored opponent nor the moment, and had some success in the early rounds. Lopez, though, was having more success throughout, and the clear difference in boxing skill and speed of hand and foot was obvious from the opening bell.
Once Lopez really settled it and it was clear he’d built up some damage points on Campa, he went after it in round seven, dropping the game Mexican and then hammering away until referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight for a TKO.
“Being at 135 was killing my body,” he said. “I just turned 25, and we want Josh Taylor, we want all these guys. We want (Regis) Prograis, we want (Jose) Zepeda, we want all the belts. That’s really who we want. We want to become a two-time world champion.”
Lopez was asked about Ryan Garcia, but didn’t provide a direct answer. Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya was in attendance to discuss the possibility of making that fight.
Lopez alsosaid he will be back in December.
“We’re gonna be in the big room this time, Madison Square Garden on Dec. 10, Heisman Trophy night on ESPN pay-per-view. I’m ready to eat all these boys. They’re all man-made. Teofimo is self-made, they can never make another one!”
