Reminder, next week this will be behind a paywall
Teofimo Lopez vs. Pedro Campa
Observations…
The two themes of this fight week are, 1) the redemption of Teofimo Lopez, 2) and Xander Zayas’ transition into a viable main event fighter in the near future. Lopez also kept his own schedule, coming early to the media day, which somewhat had the schedule for Wednesday in a blender, and took a long-time with one-on-one fighter interviews with the ESPN broadcast team, which cause a long delay for the rest of the fighters who followed him.
It seems Lopez has a lot to say and wants to let the world know.
Another underlying story is Teofimo Lopez and Xander Zayas are originally from the same area in Florida, and I believe might have even trained at the same gym, at one time early in Zayas’ life. So to see the two headlines a major card is something special.
Another thing to watch for is that Teofimo Lopez needs to not take as much damage as he has had back-to-back hard fights with Lomachenko and Kambosos Jnr., the overall goal from this fight should be to get through it with as little damage as possible.
media workout
Music has always played a big role in Teofimo Lopez’s life, but seeing his media workout start with him picking out Lil Wayne’s song featuring Gucci Mane “Steady Mobbin”, While getting stretched out further illustrated that. Lopez served as a DJ curating the music those in attendance heard on Wednesday. Lopez dawning a Givenchy brand jacket, Lopez looked the part of a star, as when he hit the ring, it was different - it truly was the main event boxing attraction seeing Teofimo Lopez, and his father, Junior Lopez back at it. More so, the serious nature of the two cemented in my mind that Lopez is going to knockout Campa.
When you watch Teofimo Lopez and his father, Junior hit mitts you understand why Teofimo is a legend. The precise nature of Lopez’s punches from such a short distance, along with his focus and composure is unreal. It is different, only matched by the fellow greats of his era. This media workout made me remember why Teofimo Lopez is mentioned so highly. He is different.
Watching Lopez’s FightHubTV interview is very important in understanding where he is at. Lopez seems burnt out by the industry of boxing, but also ready to prove a point.
Pedro Campa gave us absolutely nothing on the media day. A little bit of shadowboxing, and showed us he is in shape by taking his shirt off, but beyond that, we got the bare minimum nothing to be learned from this.
Co-main eventer, Xander Zayas looks as in-shape as he has ever been with the mindset being touted by himself, and others that his mentality is to hurt people when he enters the ring. This is the meanest I have seen Zayas leading up to a fight.
Andres Cortes has really good hand speed and looks to be a formidable opponent for any and all at 130 lbs. Most notable, Cortes throws long combinations, and with big power. Cortes also did a full workout from mitts to heavy bag work to even the double-end bag, as Cortes came into the media workout to prove a point it seemed. I believe with a big performance, Cortes, enters the conversation of the prospect of the year, and his media workout seemed to speak to that.
Press Conference Quotes….
Photo: Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
Teofimo Lopez
“A true champion never gets distracted. At the end of the day, this ain’t my first rodeo. 21 years in the game. Blood, sweat, and tears. Do your research. See it. Five-time world champion. We’re just here to dominate and do what we always do: entertain.”
“This guy is in front of me to stop my dreams and stop everything that we’re shooting for. Every time I go out there in the ring, I’m risking everything. I’m risking my life. We double down, every time. When it comes to me, it’s just me versus me, no one else. I thank God for that. He’s always in my corner.”
“My first loss? It was actually my 21st loss if we count the amateurs as well. So, I always bounce back. I’m always that type of person. The first step to success is failure. Saturday night there will be a lot of people tuning in.”
“Campa has that Mexican style of boxing. He’s going to be aggressive. This is going to be an all-out war. This is going to be a fight. And I’m very excited about that. I love competition.”
Pedro Campa
“We know the kind of fighter we will be fighting this Saturday. Honestly, I trained very hard because, as I repeat, we know the kind of opponent we have. Manny Robles is a trainer with a great understanding. He knows what he wants me to do, and I’m ready to obey what he says.”
Xander Zayas
“It’s about having your dreams and knowing what you want to do in life. I have my goals clearly laid out. I have no doubt that I can achieve each and every one of them.”
“We know that Elias Espadas is a Mexican warrior who is coming with a lot of motivation. He has never been knocked out. But I don’t feel any pressure. We are going to obtain the victory. We know what we have to do in the ring. It doesn’t matter how he will come. I will bring that regional WBO title back to Puerto Rico.”
Xander’s opponent, Elias Espadas, didn’t say anything notable but appeared to be feeling his weight cut
Weigh-In Results…
Nothing stood out, everyone made weight - nothing foolish happened either. The biggest news was Teofimo Lopez came in 2 lbs., under his contracted pro debut weight at 140 lbs.
News and Notes
A trilogy bout between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez is verbally agreed to for December, according to Chocolatito's manager Carlos Blandon. Estrada is planning to have a tune-up bout prior to the meeting, which seemingly should happen soon, as December is only four-and-a-half months away. Estrada has also given up his WBA super championship, meaning Joshua Franco is now the WBA super flyweight champion. Estrada did that so he could face Gonzalez next.
The IBF has ordered Josh Taylor to defend his IBF super-lightweight world title against number one contender Jeremias Ponce with a purse bid deadline of Aug 23rd. Taylor has been set on a Jack Catterall rematch, so if that is Taylor’s plan, Ponce would face Subriel Matias for the vacant 140 lbs IBF world title.
Tyson Fury retires again via Instagram.
2020 Olympic gold medallist Hebert Conceicao will turn pro this weekend on Saturday, in a bout taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, promoted by LIFT Promotions.
Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno, a former amateur standout with one-punch knockout power who was once signed to Top Rank Inc, will replace Shinard Bunch, as Adorno will face Hugo Alberto Roldan in a new 10-round super lightweight main event on SHOBOX: The New Generation on Friday, September 9, live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT from Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino’s Grand Ballroom.