Taylor vs. Lopez: Tough Talk, Let’s See Who Walks It
By Chris Carlson
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Jun 2023
This Saturday night the lineal 140-pound title is at stake when former lineal lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez challenges current junior welterweight kingpin Josh Taylor. The trash talk hit a fever pitch during fight week, now all that’s left is to walk all that talk. Both men are coming off subpar performances in their last outing. Motivation in a 50-50 bout shouldn’t be an issue but outside of the ring stuff and mental state could play a roll. This fight will be televised on ESPN/ESPN+ with a strong lead in from UFC prelims. It’s refreshing to see such a quality matchup back on basic cable delivering a very good rating relatively speaking.
Right off the bat the weighin for this fight does matter when picking a winner. Having not fought since February of 2022, Josh Taylor could have some trouble making the weight or at minimum be hampered trying to squeeze down to 140. This will be Lopez’s third fight at the junior welterweight division in less than a year after competing at the champion level at lightweight. Taylor has made in known for quite some time that he wants to move up to 147 in an attempt of becoming a two-division champion. My gut tells me they will make weight and look just fine doing so.
A jab is as good as place to start as any when breaking down this fight. Both men should employ it and if successful stay consistent by throwing it in a variety of ways to the head, chest, and body. Clearly Teofimo Lopez is the more explosive puncher along with holding the athletic advantage over Taylor. Lopez has to be smart but not too tentative on the offensive end. Teofimo is an excellent counter puncher and has a style that allows him to strike fire on to his opponent at any time. At 140 his power hasn’t necessarily translated just yet but this could be the fight we see it detonate.
Josh Taylor uses veteran craft to land short timely punches up close and skirt the line of being dirty on the clinch. Landing during exchanges and with one-hand free was the key to victory over Jose Ramirez. That said Taylor is more than capable of using his footwork and ring generalship to jab, pot shot, and win rounds on the outside. The mid-range and Taylor on the way inside should be in favor of Teofimo catching Taylor coming forward with poor defense. Although many believe this is mostly Teo, both guys have a tendency to leap punch. Taylor can counter and time fighters as well but Lopez’s speed and reflexes while moving his head and striking back quickly could be the key in those moments.
Taylor needs to not only be first but make use of his lead hand and try to win that small battle of this war. Both men are capable of countering the jab. Once again this boxing podcaster gives the edge to Teofimo in that department. Although Lopez can block shots with his lead hand his open stance can be a weakness combined with a bad habit of dropping his lead hand when he punches. Lopez leaping in while punching places him in range to be countered especially with hooks. Lopez can’t make the mistake of relying on his reflexes on offense or defense facing a heady boxer like Taylor.
The elephant in the room is Teofimo Lopez’s mental state along with his father remaining as the main voice in his corner. One can’t help to wonder will Teo be able to make adjustments when faced with adversity and I don’t mean just getting knocked down or hurt. Lopez tends to fight the way he fights and the lack of creativity when it’s not working is troubling. Another obvious key for Lopez is not banging on the inside with Taylor for long portions of a round trying to prove a point.
This fight is way closer than most folks in the media and fans alike believe it to be. This boxing junkie was shocked to see RingTv.com predictions article having it 20-0 for Josh Taylor. Even if you don’t believe he will win this hack-of-a-scribe just doesn’t see this being a one-sided fight ending in knockout for Taylor. The betting sites have this pretty close to a pick’em with Lopez sitting at +138 to +162 on Fanduel which is very good value.
The distance is the main thing that will predict the outcome. If Taylor can operate all the way inside or all the way outside he will win. If this fight is at the midrange, Teofimo will prove lots of folks wrong. A tried and true method of picking winners is to go with the boxer who has more paths to victory. Taylor can win rounds boxing with movement or make it a rough and tumble affair up close. He’s also no slouch at range although it’s not a place he wants to be in the whole fight. Look for this fight to be won or lost in the later rounds.
My Official Prediction is Josh Taylor by Split-Decision.
Podcast Link: tobtr.com/s/12236526
Side Note: On DAZN Munguia vs. Derevyanckenko should be a good “TV” fight on Saturday night. Also, Congratulations to Carl Froch, Timothy Bradley, and Rafael Marquez among others for their 2022 Hall of Fame merits.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Chris Carlson.
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