Play.
George Kambosos Jr. won the lightweight world title.
Teofimo Lopez lost his lightweight titles by a split decision to George Kambosos Jr. There is a time limit.
2:27 AM
Teofimo Lopez was on top of the world.
Lopez was instantly and universally recognized as one of the 10 best pound-for-pound boxers in the world after his win over Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lopez was on the fast track to superstardom because of his personality.
The title defense against George Kambosos Jr. was postponed because of Lopez's positive test for COVID in June. The fight was pushed to November, a different promoter and a different broadcast platform, because of the chaos that ensued. Lopez was a 7-to-1 favorite to win at the Madison Square Garden.
There are punches.
Lopez.
Kambosos
The total landed.
179
182.
The total was thrown.
565
739
The percentage.
34%
25%
The man landed.
61
27
The jabs were thrown.
284.
347
The percentage.
22%
8%
The power landed.
115
155
The power was thrown.
281
395
The percentage.
42%
40%
CompuBox
Kambosos made sure the fight was worth the wait. He floored Lopez in the first round and survived a 10th-round knockdown to score one of the biggest upsets of 2021.
Kambosos said he put him on his ass. I completely changed the fight after that. He was hesitant. You know what I showed us, we boxed very smart. My boxing skills. I showed what a true champion is when I came back and won the fight.
Lopez was looking past Kambosos to what he hoped would be a massive 2022, filled with three fights. He wanted to start the year with a fight against Josh Taylor, followed by fights with Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney.
All of those potential opponents were not certain. Lopez's future is more uncertain than ever after the loss.
Lopez was met by a cascade of boos when he said that he was overweight.
George Kambosos Jr. kept Teofimo Lopez off balance for most of the fight.
Lopez, who entered the ring Saturday night as the No. 7 pound-for-pound boxer, said that he won. I've done it at the end of the day. I take my wins the same way I take my losses. I'm a true champion at the end of the day. I went out there and did my best, I came out here and did what I had to do. We don't stop, we keep coming.
Lopez will be out of the ring for some time because of the way his face was marked up and the cuts over his eyes. Lopez will most likely return to boxing with a soft touch before he heads into another fight. It will be at 140 pounds that the next title shot will come.
It was supposed to be an opportunity for Lopez to get back into the ring after 13 months out. The biggest test of his career awaits him, but he's proven resilient outside the ring. How will he bounce back from his first professional loss and get back to being a unified world champion?
Kambosos is in a new place. He won the lottery after capturing a career-high purse of over $1 million, and no one gave him a chance to win. The Australian could get at least one more major pay day in the lightweight division. Kambosos had boxed well over 12 rounds against an elite boxer.
It was clear from the moment Teofimo Lopez got knocked down in the first round that the fight would be more competitive.
Next week's fight between Joseph Diaz Jr. and Haney is the leading possibility. There are also big matches with Ryan and Davis.
Kambosos has a lot of potential paths and there are 130-pounds looking up at him, 135-pounds looking sideways at him and 140-pounds looking down on him. He is the man in Australia. He's the top athlete in Australia. He's going to have a lot of options.
Kambosos has a lot of flexibility in terms of who he can fight, where it'll happen and how to enjoy the spoils of claiming Lopez's world titles, considering what he accomplished in his victory over Lopez.
"I think he's going to take a little time off and enjoy the victory," DiBella said. We're going to figure out the biggest fight we can make.
