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The genius of Teofimo Lopez Jr. is constantly looking for up-to-date challenges

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by Joseph Santoliquito |

MIAMI, Fla. — They seem to always want more because they feel more is expected. That’s probably why Teofimo Lopez Jr. is one of the best fighters in the world, and why he and his father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., The Ring magazine and 2020 BWAA Trainer of the Year, push so demanding to break up-to-date ground.

Team Lopez’s up-to-date limit is to beat someone they should easily beat – Canadian challenger Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 knockouts) on Saturday night at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

López Jr. (20-1, 13 KO) will defend his WBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight titles for the second time after winning the WBO and Ring Magazine titles in a dominant victory over previously undefeated Josh Taylor in June 2023.

The main event will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT. Sky Sports will broadcast the event in the UK and Ireland.

Team Lopez’s goal is to put on a show.

“I remember waking up my son 10 minutes before the WBO deadline, after he said he was going to retire after the Taylor fight,” said Teofimo Sr. “My son was seriously thinking about retiring. The WBO was going to vacate the title, and Devin Haney was going to take the vacant title and fight Arnold Barboza Jr. My son said he had no intention of giving the title to Haney and continuing to pass things on to him.

“Teo called the WBO and told them he had no intention of retiring. That’s where it ended, but it was close. We wanted to fight Devin Haney and that’s why he wanted to fight Regis Prograis. Nobody expected us to beat Josh Taylor. When we did this, we saw what happened. Boxing is trying to get rid of my son.

It doesn’t look like that will happen.

Earlier this year, Lopez Jr. he defeated Jamaine Ortiz by unanimous decision, but Ortiz ran all night long.

Lopez’s team has been open about the respect they have for Claggett, firstly for taking the fight, and secondly, for his attacking style. Ortiz was uncharacteristically cautious, fearing Lopez’s power. Claggett, 35, is on a three-fight win streak and nine straight wins. In January, he defeated Marcos Gonzalez via kayo in the second round.

He is a volume creator. In his last four fights, Claggett has landed an average of 102.7 punches per round, while Lopez Jr. But Claggett has never faced someone like the 26-year-old Lopez.

“If you don’t have the strength to keep this guy away, Claggett will be hanging on your face all night long,” Lopez Sr. said. “We respect him. He will come to fight, not run away like Ortiz. He hasn’t lost a fight since 2021. Guys like Claggett are risky. My son will have to box him demanding to beat him.

– And he will.

Teofimo Jr. he hopes to get the best version of Claggett. The goal of the 140-pound world champion is to fight two more fights in 2024. He wants to be more energetic and wants to have another fight in September and maybe another fight in November or December.

The consensus is that Lopez Jr. he will beat Claggett, but as a professional fighter he can’t have that attitude.

“I have to remember that everyone wants what I have, and I have the most prestigious belt in boxing, The Ring belt,” Lopez Jr. said. “This guy has solid experience. His defeats came by decision. What I struggle with the most internally, even though it’s demanding to get to the top, is to remember that every time I step into the ring, it means more.

“There are many people who inspire me. By winning, I gain more fans and more respect. Boxing is bigger than me and I know it. You feel the pressure and you know what they say: pressure makes diamonds. I love the position I’m in, I know no one can do what I do.

“I know that many players don’t respect this sport as much as I do. This worries me. I put a lot less pressure on myself. I learned to deal with pressure. I have a lot more fun and it makes me a better fighter.”

Teofimo Lopez lands a body shot on Josh Taylor during their Ring Magazine/WBO junior welterweight championship bout at The Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2023 in Recent York City. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

This was most evident after Lopez Jr.’s victory over Taylor. Many wrongly suggested he would have a mental breakdown and be chewed out. Those close to him knew otherwise.

López Jr. he’s actually a genius. He loves it when boxing pundits doubt him, as they did before the fight with Vasily Lomachenko.

After losing to George Kambosos, Lopez Sr. found tape of his son’s antique fights. He changed the way he trained his son, and what they rediscovered was “The Takeover’s” alter ego, “the skillful boxer Gordo.” He came back against Taylor. Teo Jr. he was relaxed. Confident. Specified. This resulted in his uncomplicated defeat to Taylor.

“I’m in a good place, my father and my family are in a good place, I reward myself with demanding work and ethics, and I had to lose to win” – Lopez Jr. “That defeat against Kambosos brought out the best version of me. I want to show these little kids this frosty gadget. I also have more control over myself.

“I deal with things in a more controlled way. My concentration is greater, my self-control is much, much better. This comes from knowing yourself better. I never should have fought Kambosos that night. I risked my life that night. I lost my underdog mentality after beating Lomachenko.

“Now I have it back.”

I don’t want to hand-pick anyone in the future. He wants to focus solely on Claggett.

“I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “I’m at the top of the 140-pound weight class. After this I want two more fights. Top Rank wants to give me another one and it’s in my contract. I want to fight for fourth place. We’ll see what I’m allowed to do.

– I also have to raise this issue about my father. I love him. I need my flowers, knowing what he did for me and in this sport. He was Coach of the Year and I don’t think he deserves the recognition he deserves. My father is a great coach. He won the Eddie Futch Award. He hasn’t had a drink in over 50 days and you can print it out. He changes his ways and we are talking about someone who has been drinking since he was 12 years antique.

“He saw where I was going and changed it. How many coaches would do the same? Not many. My father did it. You have to be a man to admit a mistake. He saw something and fixed it. We are a team. Boxing made us evolve as people in and out of the ring. He is the reason I am on top. We are a successful father-son duo.”

Follow @JSantoliquito

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Boxing

Tsotne Rogova wins The Heartbeat of LA Boxing series and wins the WBC title

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Toro Promotions, Inc. launched its up-to-date boxing competition series, “The Heartbeat of LA Boxing,” last night at Pacific Palms Resort, which has been a huge success. The undefeated Tsotne “Mr. T” Rogova (10-0, 7 KO) won the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) United States heavyweight title, headlining an event that featured six professional debutants, including the renowned Walnut (California) High School student. Paolo “Pow” Barredo.

“This was definitely Southern California boxing at its best,” Toro promoter Azat Torosyan said after the fights. “You have to see a lot of shows to find a good one like tonight.”

In the co-main event, Rogova faced a tough challenge from Alexander “The Great” Flores (19-5-1, 17 KOs) before winning a 10-round unanimous decision in an action-packed bout. Rogova, a 2020 Ukrainian Olympian, dominated early after a second-round knockdown of Flores, who rebounded in the middle round before Rogova regained control.

Barredo, who celebrated his 18th birthday last week, faced featherweight Mychaquell “Myche” Shields (2-6), defeating him in the third round and earning a fourth-round stoppage. Barredo, the 2021 Junior Olympic champion, impressed in his professional debut.

Another great debut was made by Alexandro “El Capitan” Alvarado (1-0, 1 KO) of La Puente, who defeated Eduardo Mondragon “El Azteca” Lopez in the lightweight category. Alvarado, the 2021 California State Silver Gloves silver medalist, showed his potential after a third-round stoppage.

Other results included junior welterweight Sonny “The Bear” Robledo (10-0, 3 KO) maintaining his undefeated record with a six-round unanimous decision victory over Matt Gaver (3-10-2, 1 KO) and Hector Oros ( 1-0) rebounded from an early knockdown to defeat Alexander Robles (0-1) in a nearly four-round unanimous decision in the junior bantamweight division.

Riverside’s Oscar Trujillo Enriquez (1-0, 1 KO) made a memorable professional debut, defeating Jesse “Suavecito” Zuniga (0-1) in the second round with a devastating body shot. The action-packed evening ended with Santa Ana’s Michael “Chamuco” Bracamontes (10-2-1, 5 KO) narrowly defeating Los Angeles’ Arsen Poghosyan (3-3-1, 2 KO) by majority decision in a competitive junior weight bout featherlight .

The gala began with Mongolian flyweight champion Enkhmandakh “Machine Gun Magi” Khurkuu (4-0, 1 KO) defeating Richard Morales (1-8, 0 KO) from Westminster, Colorado, in the first round.

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“Eddie Hearn is a counterfeit” – Ryan Garcia

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Image: "Eddie Hearn Is a Fake" - Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia has blasted promoter Eddie Hearn, saying he’s a “counterfeit” because he “turned his back” on Devin Haney after losing to him on April 20. Garcia believes Matchroom promoter Hearn is “counterfeit” for abandoning Haney (31-0, 15 KO) after he was defeated. He thinks this is low.

Ryan didn’t like how Hearn said he was seeded and was looking for a fight with Haney in the ring. He doesn’t understand how he would have managed not to look like he was “crazy” if he had been able to dominate Haney the way he did at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Modern York.

“Eddie Hearn said, ‘Ryan Garcia looked crazy in the ring before the fight.’ You can watch the fight, stupid,” Ryan Garcia said social mediatalking about his fight with Devin Haney on April 20. “I was literally normal.”

To be sincere, Ryan looked a little nervous in the lead-up to the Haney fight, but in the ring during the fight. He was 100% committed during the fight itself, which we saw clearly from the way he rocked Haney with a left hook to the jaw in the first round. Haney never recovered from Ryan’s lightning-quick shot.

“If I had been spaced out like that in the ring, how would I have managed to land a perfect counter left hook in front of his jaw? You stupid Eddie Hearn. You stupid idiot. “Oh, Ryan was pissed in the ring.” I’m fed up with Eddie Hearn. This guy is a fraud,” Garcis said.

Ryan shouldn’t take Hearn seriously as he could just be flapping his gums to have something to talk about as his former player Haney was really overworked. All the demanding work Hearn put into him was wasted.

After this loss, you could understand why Hearn wanted to leave the sinking ship Haney before it sank. It is useless now. Haney’s career has hit rock bottom and won’t be resurfaced with Hearn’s facilitate.

He won’t want to sign a contract with Haney and then make a costly and time-consuming transaction rebuild work on him, which could take two years and involve four or five confidence builders. Haney isn’t a huge enough attraction.

“You have to question what Eddie Hearn said. He said: “I looked at Ryan and he was really in bad shape.” I had a six pack and was ready to go. I came demanding. I drank a lot of fluids and ate a lot. I don’t usually do this.

“I don’t know how he gains so much weight. His weight went from 140 to 158. I was 156. Eddie Hearn said: “He was shaking and looking everywhere.” No, I wasn’t. Watch the fight. I wasn’t broken. How can I fight so broken?” Garcia said.

Many fans wonder how Haney gains so much weight after rehydrating after fights, but weight manipulation in sports requires policies to prevent this from happening. On fight night, weights should be additionally checked to ensure that fighters do not hydrate more than 5 pounds, as it is risky to have someone hydrate more than 20 pounds and employ their size to win. This is not only unfair, but can endanger the lives of opponents.

“If you’re really drugged, how can you fight in front of millions of people and fight for 12 rounds? These people are stupid. I’d like to see Eddie Hearn and say, “Are you stupid?” Your fighter wasn’t fighting well and wasn’t even your fighter at the time. And when he was beaten, you turned your back on him. You are a counterfeit cheater. Fuck you, Eddie Hearn,” Garcia said.

All that acting that Ryan did to make Haney think he was crazy may have also fooled Hearn into thinking he was out of his mind. Many people believed that Garcia was either showing signs of early schizophrenia or was under the influence of drugs.

“Forget you, Eddie Hearn, for trying to create the narrative I had in mind before the fight. You’re just an idiot. It’s a curse for him because you tried to lie to me so many times. Now look at your promotion,” Ryan said.

Again, we don’t know what Hearn’s purpose in the conversation was, as he may have been trying to generate interest in the fight by telling some elevated tales.

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Daniyar Yeleussinov submits Joe Noynay twice and scores in round five in Kazakhstan

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Daniyar Yeleussinov celebrates his victory over Zoltan Szabo during their super welterweight fight at York Hall in London. (Image: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

by Francisco Salazar |

Daniyar Yeleussinov returned to fighting after a long break and hopes to be successful in a modern weight class.

Yeleussinov stopped Joe Noynay twice, winning by fifth-round knockout on Saturday night at the Almaty Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Yeleussinov improved his record to 12-0, 7 by knockout.

Southern midfielder Yeleussinov was acute from the opening bell. About 30 seconds before the end of the first round, a left to the body sent Noynay to one knee. Noynay managed to defeat the enumerator and get out of the round.

Less than a minute into the fourth round, a series of punches, including left hands to the head and body, knocked Noynay to the canvas. Noynay got down on both knees but beat the count given by referee Martin Pawlak.

Noynay continued to play, but Yeleussinov’s accuracy and striking speed surpassed him. Yeleussinov was the aggressor and took Noynay down, beating him up for most of the fight. As round five ended, Noynay’s corner made a clever move to keep Noynay from taking more punishment and preventing him from answering the bell in round six.

Saturday’s victory over Noynay was Yeleussinov’s first fight since a one-sided win over Juan Hernan Leal in December 2021 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Yeleussinov won a minor welterweight world title belt.

The 33-year-old is from Kayinda, Kazakhstan and currently lives in Miami, Florida.

Chris Glover, who has worked with Jeleussinov and his team, stated that Jeleussinov will likely return to action and fight at 154 pounds.

Yeleussinov was an outstanding amateur, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2016. Yeleussinov signed with Matchroom Boxing and made his professional debut in April 2018, fighting a total of 10 times under the Matchroom banner. Yeleussinov defeated the likes of Reshard Hicks, Alan Sanchez and former lightweight titleholder Julius Indongo by knockout.

Noynay, who lives in Paranaque City, Philippines, has a record of 23-5-2, 11 KOs. Noynay previously fought on May 16, losing by knockout to once-defeated Jin Sasaki.

The 29-year-old split two fights with junior lightweight title challenger Liam Wilson and former junior lightweight world champion Kenichi Ogawa.

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