Teofimo Lopez Jr. dominates Steve Claggett to retain WBO/Ring junior welter titles

MIAMI, FL — The little engine inside of his head has slowed down. Besides, Teofimo Lopez Jr. had given up trying to catch his anxiety a few years ago. He is more reflective. He is more relaxed. He has learned to tame the dark apprehension that would fold in on the outer reaches and crease its way in with each fight.

That could not have been on more display than this week, in preparation for his WBO/Ring Magazine junior welterweight world championship title defense against Canadian Steve Claggett Saturday night at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

It has taken time, but Lopez Jr. likes his reflection. His easy demeanor translated into the ring.

One of boxing’s most flamboyant showman put on a show, starting from his ring walk, dancing to Michael Jackson’s Beat It, dressed in a white tux jacket trimmed in gold.

Lopez (21-1, 13 knockouts) finished with a unanimous decision, winning by a 120-108 shutout on the scorecards of judges Lisa Giampa and Efrain Lebron, and 119-109 by judge Steve Weisfeld.

“I am absolutely thinking of moving up. My legs, my body has to move up, moving to 147. I want Terence Crawford. That’s the goal. I don’t know, I don’t care who has the 147-pound belts, All I want is the guy with The Ring belt and that’s Terence ‘Bud Crawford.”

Lopez landed a career-high 315 punches, connecting on a career-best 26 punches per round, and threw a career-high 946 total, averaging a career-best 79 punches per round.

“I am really relaxed, I do like where I am, I’m getting older, my son is getting older and I have to show what it means to be a stand-up man,” Lopez said. “It may have been as easy as it looked. Claggett is a tough guy. I have much respect for him. But in the end, they were telling him that he had the fight, and that I was getting tired.

“In reality, I was there. We had a game plan and we stayed with it. The guy was tough. I was aiming for a tough fighter. I knew this guy was going to test my limits. He touched me for the sake of touching me. I had no fear of him. If there is anything you have to include, Muhammad Ali’s quote, the will has to be stronger than the skills.

“I am absolutely thinking of moving up. My legs, my body has to move up, moving to 147. I want Terence Crawford. That’s the goal. I don’t know, I don’t care who has the 147-pound belts, All I want is the guy with The Ring belt and that’s Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.”

From the outset, Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs) put pressure on Lopez. He kept coming forward, flicking out a jab. He may not have had much on them, but the punches were constant. Lopez absorbed as much as he could with his shoulders and his arms. Awkward and hanger thin, Claggett still burrowed forward.

Whether he would be able to keep that kind of tempo throughout 12 rounds would be a question.

In the second, Claggett tried the same tactics, attempting to smother Lopez. He seemed to hitting Lopez with a million pebbles—not one rock. Lopez would backpedal, luring Claggett forward. Lopez did the brunt of shots in the second, though Claggett’s output seemed to drop slightly.

In the third, Lopez banged Claggett with a left hook early in the round, and a few moments later, popped Claggett with a straight right. Lopez’ punches arrived with a thud that could be heard ringside.

Lopez seemed to wake up in the third, which was his best round at that point.

Lopez banged Claggett, who was looking down, with a left and then right uppercut, popping the Canadian’s head back.

By the fifth, Claggett’s output diminished considerably from the first four rounds. He still stalked Lopez, but was not punching his way in. Claggett seemed content on sometimes just touching Lopez, with little behind his punches.

Using his left shoulder as a battering ram, Lopez ran right into Claggett to begin the seventh. By then, Claggett was throwing one punch at a time, and Lopez was nailing at him with ease. He beginning to tee off on Claggett, and the tough Canadian could do little to keep him away.

Claggett was courageous. He kept coming forward, pawing more at Lopez than willing to sit down on his punches and commit. Lopez plowed Claggett with two rights to the jaw, and then a right uppercut. Lopez was making Claggett pay every time he came close, especially with a steady diet of uppercuts.

In the ninth, Lopez continued his assault. He worked levels well, whipping Claggett’s sides with looping rights, and enforcing his will behind his left shoulder.

Claggett kept coming forward strictly on courage.

But he was clearly taking a pounding.

In the 10th, it more of the same. Lopez slamming Claggett with uppercuts, and Claggett taking them. Lopez ended the round with a blistering flurry that Claggett could not answer.

In the final round, Claggett tried, coming forward, though this time he was greeted by a barrage of Lopez shots. Then he was pelted with body shots, then a left shoulder, then a right uppercut.

Lopez closed the show with a torrent of shots. As the final bell rang, the two fighters hugged.

“I saw combinations from my son that I never saw before,” said Teofimo Lopez Sr., Lopez Jr.’s father and trainer. “We knew we had to go to the body, and he kept coming. Claggett did an amazing job. He kept throwing punches, but that rate dropped, because he never dealt with anyone like my son.

“We are thinking of making the move to 147. We are still strong at 140, we made the weight without a problem, and he was strong late in the fight. But we want Terence Crawford. Facing Crawford will be a tough fight for him, and I will admit it will be a tough fight for us. I saw combinations tonight I never saw my throw. Crawford is a dangerous fight for him, and for us.

“My son will be even stronger at 147. But we can stay at 140. If the fights are good, we can stay at 140. If we move to 147, we want to fight for titles, and those guys at 147 will want to fight us. We got nothing from tonight. We were expected to win, and we won.”

Joseph Santoliquito is a Hall of Fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito

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