Teofimo Lopez won’t make the mistake of underestimating Jamaine Ortiz.
Lopez believes, though, that Ortiz’s strong start versus Vasiliy Lomachenko was somewhat circumstantial. Lomachenko came off of a 10½-month layoff when he opposed Ortiz in October 2022 and spent much of that year in war-torn Ukraine, the three-division champion’s home country, after it was invaded by Russia.
Lopez acknowledged that Ortiz boxed well for much of their 12-round bout, but the WBO junior welterweight champion is “absolutely” sure Lomachenko did enough to come back to win. Judges Mark Consentino (116-112), Frank Lombardi (117-111) and John McKaie (115-113) all scored their fight for Lomachenko 15 months ago in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“This was Loma coming back from defending his home country of Ukraine,” Lopez, who will face Ortiz on Thursday night in Las Vegas, told BoxingScene.com. “So, just for him to come back and face a fighter like [Ortiz] is good for him. So, of course you’re gonna go and attack Lomachenko early. At that time, he hadn’t fought in [almost] a year.
“What I saw from [Ortiz] is that he knows how to collect points, he knows how to range himself into the points system, so that I have to be more aware of that and use it to my advantage and know how to adapt to that, especially with this caliber of fight we have going on. It’s a great showcase.”
Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs), who will defend the WBO 140-pound crown for the first time against Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs), studied Lomachenko-Ortiz thoroughly. Though Lopez boxes from an orthodox stance and Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) is a southpaw, the former unified lightweight champion extracted valuable information from reviewing footage of that fight.
“Seeing [Ortiz], how he would range, switch up, he kinda confused Loma a little bit,” Lopez said, “I was like, ‘OK, this is what I should expect coming into this fight.’ ”
Las Vegas’ Lopez noticed, however, that the two-time Olympic gold medalist rallied during the second half of their fight, much like Lomachenko did against Lopez in October 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Lopez banked rounds during the first half of their 135-pound championship unification fight, withstood Lomachenko’s comeback and won their bout on the cards of judges Tim Cheatham (116-112), Julie Lederman (119-109) and Steve Weisfeld (117-111).
“You’ve gotta think about it – Lomachenko is a veteran,” Lopez said. “He knew, ‘OK, go ahead. You can win these upcoming rounds, but I’m gonna finish you at the end.’ And he proved that, especially leading into the championship rounds. But that was Lomachenko fighting Jamaine Ortiz. This is Teofimo fighting Jamaine Ortiz. We’re gonna see if he can handle all the things that I have and all the gifts and all the attributes I present in that boxing ring. So, you know, it’s easier said than done when you’re in there.”
Lomachenko ended an even longer layoff against Lopez, 13½ months, than when he fought Ortiz, a Worcester, Massachusetts native that Lopez is listed as a 7-1 favorite to beat by DraftKings sportsbook.
ESPN will televise Lopez-Ortiz as the main event of a doubleheader scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT) from Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Lightweights Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs, 1 NC), of Norfolk, Virginia, and Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs), of Cidra, Puerto Rico, will open the two-bout broadcast in a 10-rounder.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.