Madison Square Garden, New York, USA. In the main event of the evening in the WBC super lightweight eliminator (up to 63.6 kg), the former absolute champion of the lower division, American Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) and Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 KOs) from Spain, met. The favorite celebrated the victory.
Lopez took the center of the ring, worked as the first number. Attacked mainly the body of the opponent. At first he leaned on the twos, then slightly diversified the attacks. Southpaw Martin tried to counter. In the opening round, the fighters clashed heads.
At the start of the 2nd three-minute period, Martin dropped Lopez with a right check-hook – he caught him in an unbalanced state. In response, he raised the density of the battle, smashed his opponent’s nose. The favorite wound up, a lot of sweeping attacks. The underdog moves well, fails the ex-champion.
.@SandorMartin with the HUGE knockdown in R2 pic.twitter.com/11urkis4n1
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) December 11, 2022
In the 3rd round, the fighters exchanged dangerous moments: Martin hit with a left straight, Lopez answered with a left hook a little later. The favorite presses more and more aggressively, but in no way can drive the opponent to the ropes. The Spaniard is moving very well.
The Spaniard has a serious nosebleed, it is hard for him to breathe. But Lopez has no tangible superiority, because Martin constantly counters, even with a jab. Underdog is too passive. You can’t give away rounds without a fight. Martin was a little more active in the 6th round, and 10 seconds before the gong, the fighters unexpectedly entertained with a short exchange.
Trading to end R6 #LopezMartin | LIVE on ESPN pic.twitter.com/8pHnZxlhpH
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) December 11, 2022
In the 7th round, Lopez again visited the floor, but this time without a knockdown – the blow fell on the back of the head. However, three minutes can be given to the Spaniard. Martin again gave the initiative to the favorite, but had a good time in the decisive round.
The Spaniard biked too much. In vain he is. If he had fought more actively, he could have counted on a well-deserved victory.
Judges score: 95-94 Martin, 96-93 Lopez and 97-92 Lopez.
Lopez SD 10. No, not impressed…