Teofimo Lopez will defend his WBO junior welterweight title for the first time since winning it from Josh Taylor, announcing his retirement, reneging on said retirement, calling out Terence Crawford, and various personal issues.
Lopez will face Jamaine Ortiz, who is remembered for his losing but determined outing in a close loss to Vasyl Lomachenko and defeated Antonio Moran in his only fight since losing to Lomachenko.
While Lopez is a deserved strong favorite over Ortiz, Ortiz is better than a pushover, Lopez's M.O. has been to show his best only when motivated (his wins over Lomachenko and Taylor) and when he perceives his opponent to be beneath him, his performances have varied in his loss to George Kambosos and his split decision win over Sandor Martin that many believe he lost.
A motivated Lopez should win this one, perhaps even by stoppage.
A distracted or over-confident champion could find himself in quite a battle.
The co-feature will pit Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis against former junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza in the first test of Davis in his pro career.
Pedraza has won two world championships but in his chances against the elite of the sport (Gervonta Davis, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Jose Ramirez), Pedraza has come up with the short end.
Pedraza is 1-2-1 in his three most recent fights against world-class competitions, losing decisions to Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza with a draw with Richard Commey in between the defeats, so he does seem to be on the decline.
Davis defeated Nahir Albright last October via majority decision with the fight later overturned to a no-contest when Davis tested positive for marijuana after the fight.
Pedraza is a step up in opposition for Davis but if Davis is as talented as his hype suggests, Pedraza may be just too slow to keep up with the flashy Norfolk, Virginia native.
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