By: Sean Crose
Teofimo Lopez defended his WBO welterweight title against Steve Claggett 38-7-2 on Saturday night in Miami. Although he was widely expected to win, Lopez 20-1 had high hopes for his performance against Claggett, as he had several high-profile fights ahead of him. Claggett had an impressive opening round while Lopez seemed to be surveying the terrain. Lopez remained cautious in the first half of the second round, but began to turn up the volume in the second half. By the third round, Lopez was more comfortable and was able to safely take his opponent down.
The defending champion really started tagging his men in the fourth round. To his credit, however, Claggett kept moving forward. Now in complete control, Lopez was able to land his shot in the fifth round. The bottom line is that the American tennis player is too strong compared to his Canadian opponent. With that said, the veteran Claggett is aggressive and skillful enough to erase any doubt that he is a qualified challenger for Lopez’s title.
By the middle of the fight, things had settled into a clear pattern: Claggett would come forward after a jab while Lopez adopted a relaxed, sometimes even Mayweatheresque defensive stance, absorbing and landing hard at will. The seventh round featured Lopez throwing jabs at a still-aggressive Claggett. Lopez hurt Claggett in the eighth round—enough to make one wonder what the challenger had left. With that in mind, however, Claggett continued to press forward.
By the ninth round, it was clear that Lopez was having an easy night for himself, as Claggett’s sheer toughness may have been the only reason the 140-pound champion didn’t try to finish his opponent . Indeed, Lopez was landing his shots quickly and ferociously by the end of the tenth round. The eleventh round continued to show the significant difference in skill and strength between the two fighters. By the twelfth and final round, Claggett appeared to be out of breath. No problem. Lopez put in a great performance throughout the entire fight, a performance that was recognized by the judges through a unanimous decision win.
