Teófimo López - Steve Claggett summary online, round by round, stats and highlights
Teófimo López beats Steve Claggett by unanimous decision
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Teófimo López defends title with little style
Tonight's fight was meant to be a clear statement by Teófimo López. He has complained that nobody at 140 wanted to face him, and gave a shot to a supposed "nobody" in Steve Claggett. The reality turned out to be somewhat muted.
Yes, Lopez won the fight. And yes, it was a fairly straightforward win. But for a world champion who is levels above his opponent, Lopez should have left his opponent on the canvas.
The official scorecards gave him every round. My own scoring saw the fight as back and forth over the first six, before Lopez pulled away winning the back half of the fight. I stand by that view. Lopez beat Claggett, but he did not destroy him. And that is bad news for Lopez.
If Lopez wants to make the big fights at 140, the fights against Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia or even a unification bout with Isaac Cruz, then he could have some real trouble.
If, on the other hand, Lopez wants to step up in weight, then the trouble could be even worse. Jarron Ennis and Terence Crawford are beyond his abilities.
Please understand that I do not wish to take anything away from Lopez’s victory. A world title defense is still a world title defense. So well done. But if Lopez was hoping to escape criticism over his run of middling performances against mid-level opposition, then this fight will not have done him any favors. The criticism, I am afraid, will continue.
The big question is whether or not that performance was enough to bring on the big title fights that Lopez wants. And for me the answer is no. Lopez was clearly a level above Claggett, but that's just not good enough. He should have wiped the floor with Claggett, and despite the judges scorecards I don't feel that he did that. If he wants that big money fight with Devin Haney or particularly Ryan Garcia his wins need to be far more emphatic.
AND STILL: Teófimo López wins by UD
And the judges at ringside saw this one:
120-108, 120-108, 119-109 all infavor of Teófimo López.
I feel that those were wide, two of the judges giving Teófimo every single round and the other one giving Claggett only one round. The result is correct but I think the local Latino crowd swayed the judge's opinions. Claggett fought better than that and Lopez gave up a lot more ground than they are suggesting.
If Lopez needed an emphatic win in order to quiet the detractors and invite on bigger and better opposition, this performance perhaps was not it. Don't get me wrong, Lopez won the fight. And he won it quite handily, I personally have it 116 to 112, but there were moments, particularly early, when he just gave away too much ground to Steve Claggett.
This to be a comfortable win, but we have to go to the judges scorecards to verify.
As the 12th and final round gets started the two men touch gloves. Lopez's eyes are swollen not quite shut, but not far off. Make no mistake, Claggett has not been overmatched. He is very much in this fight, even if he's not winning the rounds.
Claggett is staying on the offensive throwing his hands ever more freely, sensing perhaps that he needs a knockout in order to win. Lopez is still boxing off the back foot, throwing just enough shots to stay in the fight, but not taking any risks. He knows that he is in the lead and things can only go downhill for him here.
We're in the final minute Lopez starts to let his hands fly a bit, pushing Claggett back, stopping his assault. As the fight comes to an end they both stand in the middle of the ring trading punches.
Claggett comes back out straight onto the chase, while Lopez is still playing the role of sniper. Claggett is noticeably slower, showing signs of fatigue. In boxing they say it's all about levels, and right now you can really see those levels as Lopez it's still lithe and dancing around the edge of the ring.
Claggett is still trying to find a way to cut the ring off, to somehow keep Lopez on the ropes when he gets him there, but to no avail. Lopez is slippery and sharp in his counter punches.
Lopez is cruising here. Claggett is still coming forward, throwing his shots and trying to do some damage, but Lopez is quite happy backing away picking off his shots and frustrating the Canadian.
Claggett's jabs lack a little bit of conviction now, and his pressure is far less spiteful then in the early rounds. Lopez is taking full advantage of this lull in his opponent's attack and is landing clean counter shots almost at will.
Lopez backs away not needing to get into any trouble and as the round ends, it ends with a flurry as Lopez lands a six punch combination.
Ohh Lopez comes out and lets his hands fly and lands a huge one two followed with a massive right hand! Claggett is still coming forward marching down and trying to get his shots back in, but Lopez is really stretching his lead here.
Another right hook snaps Claggett’s head back. Again Claggett pushes Lopez onto the ropes lands a nice jab but Lopez slips away and comes back with his own jab.
Where the first half of the fight was back and forth, these last two rounds have seen Lopez stretch his advantage and pull away in levels.
Crack it comes straight out and charges Lopez down, getting him into the corner and letting his hands fly. Lopez is as slippery as they come, and he rolls and slips out coming back with his own uppercut to the ribs.
Cluck it through the high right hand and Lopez comes back underneath it with a short hook that catches him cleanly. Lopez lands a big right hand around the guard and then a huge uppercut! Claggett is in real trouble here! Lopez jumps on the front foot and pushes Claggett onto the ropes! This is the biggest trouble we've seen the Canadian inn so far!
Lopez doesn't quite have enough to finish him and Claggett recovers quickly, but that was a huge round for Lopez.
At the halfway point this is almost a pick-em fight. Lopez has done the cleaner work, landing solid counter punches, but Claggett has almost overwhelmed him with volume.
They both stand toe to toe as the seventh gets going, with Lopez tapping looking for a way in. Claggett's guard has begun to lower ever so slightly and this is leaving space for Lopez to land his flurry of shots. Lopez relies on those lightning fast hands to catch you with your guard down. Claggett has been incredibly disciplined and keeping his guard high so far.
Lopez comes out firing with ten seconds to go and lands a huge right hand followed by a nice left hook right on the bell.
In that last round Lopez let his hands fly far more than he had previously, really letting his shots land. Rather than wait for a single counter punch, Lopez would take a step backwards, invite Claggett on and then go on the immediate assault.
As round six gets started Lopez sticks with that approach. Claggett comes forward and throws a huge overhand right. A double left hook and another right before Lopez comes back firing with a three punch combo, pushing Claggett back.
A nice right hook slips around the guard of Claggett. Lopez backs away and pokes in another uppercut, before throwing that left-right-left combo straight down the middle.
Both fighters are starting to show a little bit of swelling on their faces, indicating that these jabs are beginning to have their effect. Claggett marches forward and Lopez gets on his bike, backing away and countering when his opponent gets within range.
Lopez works with his hands low, typical for boxers who use the shoulder roll. Whereas Claggett keeps his hands very high, right up next to his temples and his elbows tucked in tight. Combined with that come-forward style of the Canadian, and the stick and move style of Lopez, this is a battle almost of opposing boxing theories.
Again Lopez stays on the move, bouncing around the outside of the ring. Claggett chases him, but Lopez is quite happy working off the back foot, and using that shoulder roll to slip out of trouble.
Each time there's an exchange Lopez comes out getting the last word. Claggett lands a double jab and a right hook, but Lopez comes back with a sharp left upper cut. Again Lopez backs away and onto the ropes inviting Claggett forward before sniping him this time with a right uppercut. That is a beautiful shot, a wonderful weapon in the Champ’s arsenal.
As the round winds down, Lopez again shifts to offence, landing a quick flurry of shots, most of which hit the glove of his opponent, but doing enough to catch the eye of the judges.
Lopez is working shoulder roll, backing onto the ropes, and then relying on his ability to duck under those shots and come back with the left hook to the ribs. He's making good ground, but giving up a lot to Claggett along the way.
While Lopez has been almost exclusively working the body, his opponent has been tapping away and his face. Clearly Lopez believes that he has the power to stop the Canadian and so he can give ground here early on.
With a minute to go in the round Lopez goes on to the attack for the first time in the fight. He lands a solid right and follows it up with a double jab and another right.
Prior to the fight, Lopez had said that Claggett would bring out the best in his style, implying that what Lopez needs is a fighter who will come forward. Well if that's the truth, than he's found his man. Claggett is staying on the front foot marching forward, keeping his guard high and letting his hands go.
Claggett lands jab and backhand, tapping away at the champ. Lopez backs away and gives a big smile, trying to stay mobile and move away from these shots. As Claggett continues forward, Lopez catches him with a counter, nothing hard but enough to keep the advance at a slow pace.
Again Claggett comes forward, and Lopez back pedals flicking out the jab.
Things get underway with Claggett taking this inner of the ring keeping tight and compact pushing forward Lopez is outside slipping around throwing feints and jabs. Both men are unafraid to let their hands go, and both have good speed in the upper body to slip their opponent’s shots.
Lopez lands a nice left hook and tries to slip out around the guard, but Claggett stays in front of him, cutting the ring down.
A double tap, right hand from Lopez invites a response from Claggett, who lands a solid right of his own.
Teofimo Lopez vs Steve Claggett [WBO World Super Lightweight Title]
Now it is time for the main event as Teófimo López takes on Steve Claggett for the WBO World Super Lightweight Title. Unusually, Teófimo is waving the Spanish flag, representing the country of his grandfather, rather than the Honduran flag of his father's country as he usually does.
AND THE NEW: Robeisy Ramirez becomes WBO Continental Champion
Wow that was huge! Just when it looked as if things might be going a little bit better for Benitez, that left upper cut from Ramirez just ended the fight emphatically. A beautiful left uppercut followed by a straight right and Benitez could do nothing about it.
Ramirez had absolutely outboxed him from pillar to post throughout the fight. Benitez was trying to come forward, never taking a step backwards, and then marching forward he would often switch his stance up, starting orthodox taking a step forward putting himself flat on, or even slightly southpaw, and then back to a squared-up orthodox stance. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
Ramirez showed that he truly is championship level. He worked nicely staying outside, staying on the move, sticking and moving, picking off his shots when he could and getting out of trouble quickly. Well done!
Robeisy Ramirez wins by KO
Ramirez again is standing in the center pushing back against Benitez, perhaps trying to conserve some energy. He is not the strain nearly as much as his opponent, but has put a lot of mileage on his feet so far. This relative immobility that Ramirez is showing has allowed Benitez to get a few decent shots in.
While he is not in any way clawing anything back, this is perhaps the best round from Benitez so far.
And just as it looked like it was going well Benitez got greedy and went in switching stances and got caught with a huge left uppercut! Benitez goes down in a crumpling heap! He can't beat the count! The referee gets to 10 and that is it!
Even as celebrations take place in the ring from Ramirez, Benitez is still on his knees on the floor. He is still not up.
Round six starts with Ramirez shifting tack, deciding to stand and trade in the middle of the ring. I'm not sure he needs to do this. He has been virtually untouchable off the back foot, slippery and lethal with his counter punches. Benitez has been happy to march forward so I'm not sure that there's any real need for him to change his game plan.
Benitez is showing real wear on his face, bleeding quite freely from the nose and both eyes marked and beginning to swell. With a minute to go in the round, Ramirez reverts to what has worked so well so far, stepping back and inviting Benitez onto his left hand.
There is now swelling on Benitez’s left eye as well as his right, and that small cut on the bridge of his nose is matched by blood coming from his nostril. He has good skill but unfortunately it's his bulldog style, that kind of Mexican determination to simply March forward no matter what, that is causing all the damage here.
Ramirez is simply picking him off, a sniper taking pot shots with each step.
At the halfway point of this fight, Benitez looks to be out of ideas. Again cover and march invites a counter right from Ramirez. Another one is followed by a left uppercut that snaps Benitez’s head back.
So far, through the first five rounds, Ramirez has worked excellently off the back foot.
There is some swelling on the right eye of Benitez and what looks like a small cut on the bridge of his nose. He comes out and takes the center of the ring, determined to stand toe to toe with Ramirez. They trade and Benitez pushes Ramirez to the floor. Again no knockdown.
Benitez's covered keeping his hands high, still using that crazy switch hitting stance, walking forward with both feet, putting him temporarily square on to Ramirez. He is being made to pay with each step by Ramirez, who keeps tapping away with the jabs, landing shot after shot.
Another stiff jab snaps Benitez’s head back. Ramirez is quick, fluid, ducking and moving, slipping each of Benitez’s shots.
The dynamic shifts and Benitez takes the center of the ring, Ramirez working around the outside lands a great one-two. Benitez is walking in flat footed and gets caught in between stances. Ramirez lands a huge right hook, follows it with a straight left hand, snapping Benitez’s head back. He's in a bit of trouble here!
Benitez covers up and tries to march forward, but Ramirez is slapping him around and having his way in this round.
Benitez comes around the elbow with a low left hook to the ribs. Ramirez answers it with a solid double jab. Benitez it's starting to show a bit of wear on his face, it is marked up and red.
Second round comes out and Ramirez takes the center of the ring. He quickly throws a double jab and Benitez comes in with that right upper cut again. Ramirez nicely moves backwards and catches him with a counter right.
Something Benitez has will want to watch out for is that he gets his feet crossed when he comes in often switching from orthodox to southpaw in a kind of an unintentional overstep. So far he's gotten away with it, but Ramirez can really make him pay for that.
Benitez throws a huge right hand, lands nicely. No damage to Ramirez but an eye-catching point scored. Ramirez is quick on his feet, stepping backwards, getting out of trouble, staying out of range.
Benitez comes out cagey, trying to probe the former champ, which is not a bad idea when you face a southpaw, particularly one of Ramirez's skill.
Benitez moves forward and tries to throw a right uppercut but gets his feet tangled underneath him tripping going to the canvas. The referee rules it a slip, no knock down.
Ramirez maintains a very wide stance, poking out that right jab, snapping Benitez’s head back.
All in all a very conservative round by both.
Robeisy Ramirez vs Brandon Benitez [Featherweight]
Now a contest for the WBO North American Continental Featherweight title between Robeisy Ramirez and Brandon Benitez.
Nico Ali Walsh wins by UD
The judges at ringside saw it as 58-55, 57-56, 57-56 in a unanimous decision win for Nico Ali Walsh. This avenges his only loss on his record, moving to 10-1.
This will now go to the score cards and it is difficult to score as a fight. You have to feel that overall, Ali Walsh did the better work, particularly with that knockdown in round three.
Both fighters are showing fatigue now in this sixth and final round. Ali Walsh gets back onto his bike, moving around the outside of the ring, but Akale is not able to muster much force in his jabs here. Ali Walsh is clearly in some distress with his left shoulder, he is tapping it and it is just hanging limply there by his side.
Ali Walsh is moving around the outside, tapping a jab when he can but staying away from Akale's shots. In the final ten seconds, Akale closes the distance and Ali Walsh is clearly not using his left hand.
Akale comes roaring out and trying to swarm Ali Walsh, throwing a ton of huge shots and Ali Walsh decides to meet them, perhaps not the best idea. He has been moving well all fight, this is not the time to let your feet abandon you.
Akale has done some big work here and Ali Walsh's face is marked up and swollen. Akale is going for broke and lands another big overhand right. Ali Walsh finally gets his feet back to work and tries to get out of trouble, but trouble he is in! Akale is on top of him and lands some huge shots! As they clash heads, there is a small cut on the right eye of Akale that opens up.
Akale Walsh is covered up and marching forward, trying to find that one big right hand. Ali Walsh looks comfortable, bouncing around the outside, landing nice counter shots, keeping Akale off balance.
Alli Walsh looks to have gotten the range right here, landing counter punches well, with Akale moving straight back after each shot. Without a change of angles, he is a sitting duck.
Akale is trying to load up, looking for that big single knockout shot, but is getting caught by Ali Walsh who is still doing a great job of moving around the outside, changing the angles and working the counter punch.
A big right hand lands from Akale and Ali Walsh comes back with a huge right of his own, knocking Akale's mouthpiece out of his mouth. They stand toe to toe and trade before getting tied up, allowing the referee a chance to pause and get that mouthpiece back in.
When they get going again, Ali Walsh lands a short left that sends Akale to the matt! He gets back up but right on the bell, Ali Walsh scores a knockdown.
Akale sticks with the body work and lands that left hook several times, forcing Ali Walsh to cover that right side of his body. If he can get that guard to lower, then Akale can set up something big as the fight wears on.
Ali Walsh is moving in and out even more than in the first round, trying to stay away from Akale's accurate counter shots.
Both come out working orthodox and Walsh is trying to stay on the outside, moving around and trying different angles. Akale is tight, compact and sticking that jab out, finding his range. While Walsh is the taller of the two, Akale has broad shoulders and can summon a fair amount of power into his shots.
A counter left from Akale sends Walsh tumbling backward as the round ends.
Sona Akale vs Nico Ali Walsh [Middleweight]
Now we move on to a rematch between Sona Akale and Nico Ali Walsh at Middleweight. The grandson of Muhammad Ali lost to Akale in Oklahoma nearly a year ago, and now gets a shot at evening the score. This bout is scheduled for six rounds.
Emiliano Vargas wins by TKO
Both fighters come out working orthodox and Zaragoza is the more twitchy, trying to come in low and Vargas is cleaner, catching the counter right hands. Another leap in by Zaragoza and Vargas lands a solid right and puts Zaragoza down! Another first round knockdown!
Zaragoza beats the count but is clearly hurt. Vargas comes in and steps on the front foot, pounding away with powerful shots. Vargas throws a huge right and begins to unload with a left hook, left uppercut, and the referee steps in to stop the fight! That was quick work!
Emiliano Vargas vs Jose Zaragoza [lightweight]
Now it is time to move to the main card with the preliminaries out of the way and we kick things off with a lightweight bout between Emiliano Vargas and Jose Zaragoza in an eight round contest.
Preliminary results
In the first match of the night, Dominican Euri Cedeno moved to 9-0 after a quick first round stoppage of Colombian Dormedes Potes. Swarming his opponent, Cedeno dropped the Colombian after just 58 seconds with two solid body shots, one to each side, and referee Samuel Burgos counted to ten for the KO.
Another bout between a Dominican and Colombian went on longer, taking the full scheduled ten rounds to play out, but with the same result. Yan Santana made his American debut against Brandon Valdes. It looked to be a quick night for Santana after he knocked his opponent down in the first round but Valdes recovered and put up a spirited defense, even if he was outgunned for most of the bout. The Dominican moved to 12-0 with a unanimous decision.
Finishing the trilogy of Dominican wins, Rohan Polanco came out and swarmed Mexico’s Luis Hernandez for two rounds, finally throwing a huge left uppercut that forced referee Luis Pabon to step in and put a stop to the carnage. Polanco moves to 13-0 with that win.
In an all American bout, Lorenzo Medina got a unanimous decision win over Detrailous Webster, moving to 10-0 in the process.
Elvis Rodriguez and Jino Rodrigo put on a wild fight that saw both of them knock each other down in the first round before the fight settled into a war of attrition. A rusty looking Rodriguez managed to keep Rodrigo at bay and pick up a tight 98-92, 98-92, 97-92 win to move to 16-1-1.
The Full Card
Main Card
Teofimo Lopez vs Steve Claggett [WBO World Super Lightweight Title]
Robeisy Ramirez vs Brandon Benitez [Featherweight]
Sona Akale vs Nico Ali Walsh [Middleweight]
Emiliano Vargas vs Jose Zaragoza [lightweight]
Preliminary card
Elvis Rodriguez vs Jino Rodrigo [super lightweight]
Lorenzo Medina vs Teddy Webster [Heavyweight]
Rohan Polanco vs Luis Hernandez [Welterweight]
Yan Santana vs Brandon Valdes [Featherweight]
Euri Cedeno vs Dormedes Potes [Middleweight]
The main undercard is set to get underway at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.
Tale of the tape
Teófimo López
Age: 26
Country: United States of America
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5ft 8in
Reach: 68.5”
Record: 20-1-0
Steve Claggett
Age: 35
Country: Canada
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6ft 8in
Reach: 70”
Record: 38-7-2
WELCOME!!!
Welcome to Diario AS USA’s live coverage of the WBO world super lightweight title bout between Teófimo López and Steve Claggett from the James L Knight Center in Miami Beach.
This is a clash that has largely flown under the radar what with all of the disruption in the division after Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia’s spat has acted like a vacuum, sucking all of the air out of the news.
With the WBC belt uncontested by Haney and Isaac Cruz and Ismael Barroso holding the WBA world belt and interim respectively, the IBF belt in the hands of Australian Liam Paro and the WBO held by Teófimo López have been largely ignored.
So much so, in fact that López complained in the press that the only challenger who put his hand up for a bout was Canadian Steve Claggett.
“Unlike these other supposed champs at 140, Steve Claggett is the only fighter who raised his hand and stepped up to challenge me. No other fighters were interested in getting in the ring with me,” Lopez said.
For his part, the Canadian has been steadfast that he will grab this opportunity with both hands. “I’m happy, I’m here, and I’m ready to take this opportunity and show what I can do.”
This is by far Claggett’s biggest payday, but he has been around the game for a long time. A very experienced fighter, Claggett has been described by López as a “Rocky-type character.”