Teofimo Lopez vs Jamaine Ortiz Prediction: Champ Will Struggle But Keep the Belt

In the early morning of February 9, in Las Vegas (USA), a twelve-round WBO title fight will be held between two American boxers - Teofimo Lopez and Jamein Ortiz. The fight will occur in the super lightweight division, where Lopez is the current champion. 

Lopez is a big star and still considered a promising boxer, but his prospects of becoming a GOAT have gradually faded. Still, he's a former WBA and IBF champion, current WBO champion, and winner of Ring's Prospect of the Year (2018), Boxer of the Year (2020), and Upset of the Year (2020) awards. Also, he had a lot of success in the amateur ranks (170 fights, 150 wins) (hence the big school) - Teofimo won Golden Gloves and participated in the Olympic Games. In 2019, Lopez became the IBF champion by knocking out Richard Commey, and in his next fight, he took two more belts from Vasyl Lomachenko. Then the unexpected happened - he lost everything to George Kambosos but went on a winning streak again. In his last bout, Teofimo beat the undefeated at the time Josh Taylor (19-0) by unanimous decision.

Jamain Ortiz was unbeaten for fifteen fights (with one draw) until he met Vasyl Lomachenko and failed in a very close fight. In the last bout, he won on points against Antonio Moran (29-5-1 record at the time). Before that, Ortiz had weight problems and was pulled from the next fight for being overweight, so he moved up a division.

Bookmakers consider Lopez a crazy favorite, but there are some nuances in this confrontation. The champion's last fights made us worry. He lost to Vasyl Lomachenko (even though the judges gave him the victory for some unsportsmanlike reasons) and to Kambososos (not the strongest one). Then, Teofimo knocked out Pedro Campa and won controversially (by split decision) over Spanish gatekeeper Sandor Martin. Only his last bouts didn't raise any questions, but suddenly, Josh Taylor, whom he had finished, turned out to be very weak. So, this result is more Taylor's problem than Lopez's skill. As for Ortiz, except for Lomachenko, he hasn't faced any other tough opponents.

The second problem is the new weight class and the injuries that might not have been healed. Ortiz will be an underdog, but not a huge one. The fight will be competitive, and Jamain's style and boxing school will allow him to keep going until the final bell. We think the bout will go the distance; most likely, the judges will give it to Lopez out of habit, but if not - we will not be surprised.