This Saturday night sees a mega clash in the super lightweight division as WBO champion Josh Taylor defends his belt against former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Taylor is coming off a controversial split decision win over Jack Catterall last year in a fight that many felt the latter deserved to win. It looked like a rematch would happen but instead, Taylor — who later vacated his WBC, IBF and WBA titles — will now face Lopez. Lopez lost his lightweight titles after a split decision defeat to George Kambosos Jr. in late 2021. He has since moved up to 140 pounds where he is 2-0 following wins over Pedro Campa and Sandor Martin. A win over Taylor would notably make the 25-year-old a two-division champion.
So will Lopez do it and add more spice to what is an already stacked division? Or will Taylor earn another title defense and potentially do it by getting an early finish as he expects? Here’s a look at some of the most prominent boxers and who they’re predicting to win between Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez.
Which fighters are predicting Josh Taylor to win?
Most fighters seem to be picking Taylor for this matchup considering he's the natural 140-pounder who has been fighting in the weight class for much longer than Lopez.
Among the fighters picking the Scot is notably Regis Prograis whose only career loss came in an extremely close majority decision defeat to Taylor back in October 2019. However, in this case, it seems to be more due to his opponent in Lopez.
WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis:
“Mentally, I don’t think he’s ready bro. Mentally, Teo is broken. He really is broken. He’s going through a lot of stuff. He has a lot of personal things going on. Yeah, I think Josh is just going to break his spirit. He’s really going to break him. Mentally, I don’t think Teo is all the way there. It’s like he fold. He’s one of those people that was very, very skillful at first and he had so much talent but once you take that away, then what does he have left?
“In the Kambosos fight, it showed that can be taken away. With the Sandor Martin fight, it showed that’s not enough. He needs to be mentally strong. I just think mentally; he’s just not there. I don’t know if Josh will get a stoppage or not. Teo has never been stopped, but maybe he do. Maybe he do get a stoppage. I don’t see how Teo can beat Josh. I just don’t see him beating him. That’s all. I just don’t see him beating him.”
Former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr.:
“It’s a very good fight. … At the moment, you’ve got to give the edge to Josh Taylor. He’s the naturally bigger fighter, a 140-pounder, and he’s proven himself. … I do give the edge to Taylor.”
Jack Catterall trainer and former super welterweight Jamie Moore:
“I think it’s a great fight. I think Lopez coming up will probably be the difference. I think Taylor looks healthy. People have been talking about him having to move up, obviously he’s real tight at the weight. I’ve seen stuff on social media [where] he looks healthy.
“I think it’ll be nip and tuck, but I reckon by the time you get to round seven and eight Josh’s size will be the difference and I think he’ll take over in that last third of the fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stops him late because he’s got that intense pressure when he gets in his mode, but I’d be more likely to say points.”
Which fighters are predicting Teofimo Lopez to win?
As far as Lopez winning the fight is concerned, not many boxers are picking him — with the exception of a certain Jack Catterall who was the last person to face Taylor.
Super lightweight title challenger Jack Catterall:
“I think it's a great fight. It'd be interesting to see how Taylor prepares for this fight. He's got a new coach now … He's had a multiple injuries in the lead-up to our fight. So again, it just leaves me in a place where is he overkilling it, is his body just kind of broke down overnight? There's a lot of questions to be answered but ultimately, I am siding with that. I do think he's probably coming to the end of his career now and I do think Teo's going to beat him.”
Boxing trainer and fight analyst Teddy Atlas:
“The naturally, more talented guy, as far as pure, natural talent, that would be Teofimo. That doesn’t mean that he is going to win, that doesn’t mean that you are going to be the better guy, because that talent has to be properly developed.
“Part of me wants to say Taylor, he is undefeated still, even though he might not deserve to be. But it is over here, it’s not across the pond where Taylor is from, it’s over here, I’m going to say Teofimo.”
Follow Us
Subscribe