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

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by Joseph Santoliquito |

MIAMI, Fla. — The little engine in his head slowed down. Plus, Teofimo Lopez Jr. a few years ago he gave up trying to control his anxiety. It is more reflective. He is more relaxed. He learned to tame the dim fear that gathered outside and grew with each fight.

That couldn’t have been more evident than this week as he prepared to defend his WBO/Ring Magazine junior welterweight world title against Canadian Steve Claggett on Saturday night at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

It took some time, but Lopez Jr. likes his bounce. His easygoing demeanor has translated to the ring.

One of boxing’s most extravagant showmen put on a show, starting with a walk around the ring and ending with a Michael Jackson dance, wearing a white jacket with gold trim.

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

“I’m definitely thinking about getting promoted. My legs, my body need to move to 147. I want Terence Crawford. This is the goal. I don’t know, I don’t care who belts 147 pounds. I just want a guy with The Ring belt, and that’s Terence “Bud” Crawford.”

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

“I’m really relaxed, I like where I am, I’m getting older, my son is getting older and I have to show what it means to be a good man,” Lopez said. “Maybe it was as simple as it sounds. Claggett is a tough guy. I have a lot of respect for him. But at the end they told him he fought, and I got tired.

“I was actually there. We had a game plan and we stuck to it. The guy was tough. I was aiming for a tough competitor. I knew this guy would want to test my abilities. He touched me for the sake of touching me. I wasn’t afraid of him. If there is anything you must include, a quote from Muhammad Ali, the will must be stronger than the ability.

“I’m definitely thinking about promotion. My legs, my body needs to move, I’ll go to 147. I want Terence Crawford. That’s the goal. I don’t know, I don’t care who has the 147-pound belts. I just want a guy with The Ring belt, and that’s Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.”

From the start, Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs) kept the pressure on Lopez. He kept coming forward, throwing punches. He might not have much control over them, but the punches were constant. Lopez absorbed as much as he could with his shoulders and arms. The clumsy and stick-thin Claggett kept burrowing forward.

The question is whether he will be able to maintain that pace for 12 rounds.

In the second round, Claggett tried the same tactic, trying to choke Lopez. It seemed like he was hitting Lopez with a million pebbles — not just one. Lopez was falling back, luring Claggett forward. Lopez landed most of his shots in the second round, although Claggett’s efficiency seemed to decline slightly.

In the third round, Lopez hit Claggett with a left hook early in the round, then caught Claggett with a straight right moments later. Lopez’s punches came with a thud that could be heard at ringside.

Lopez appeared to wake up in the third round, which was his best round at the time.

Lopez punishes brave Steve Claggett with a right (Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

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

In the fifth round, Claggett’s performance dropped significantly compared to the first four rounds. He continued to stalk Lopez, but didn’t punch his way through. Claggett seemed content to just touch Lopez at times, and his punches didn’t do much.

Using his left arm as a battering ram, Lopez ran straight into Claggett to start the seventh round. At this point, Claggett was throwing punches in succession, and Lopez was landing them with ease. He began to land punches on Claggett, and the tough Canadian could do little to stop him.

Claggett was brave. He kept moving forward, catching Lopez more than willing to sit on punches and engage. Lopez attacked Claggett with two rights to the jaw and then a right hook. Lopez made Claggett pay whenever he got close, especially with a steady diet of hooks.

In the ninth, Lopez continued his attack. He worked well on the levels, lashing Claggett’s flanks with right roundhouses and forcing his will behind the left shoulder.

Claggett performed purely out of courage.

But he was obviously getting a beating.

In the top ten it’s more or less the same. Lopez hits Claggett with uppercuts and Claggett takes them. Lopez ended the round with a violent attack that Claggett was unable to respond to.

In the final round, Claggett tried to come forward, though this time he was met by a hail of shots from Lopez. He was then peppered with shots to the body, then the left shoulder, then the right upper body.

Lopez finished the performance with a torrent of shots. When the final bell rang, both fighters embraced.

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

“We are thinking about moving up to 147 pounds. We are still sturdy at 140, we made weight easily and he was sturdy at the end of the fight. But we want Terence Crawford. Facing Crawford will be a tough fight for him and I admit it will be a tough fight for us. I saw combinations today, but I never saw my throw. Crawford is a hazardous 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 go to 147, we want to fight for titles, and these guys at 147 want to fight us. We got nothing from tonight. We expected to win, and we did.”

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Boxing

Ryan Garcia ‘expelled’ by WBC after racist comments against African Americans and Muslims

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Ryan Garcia has become too demanding for even one of his biggest supporters.

The now-suspended boxer is no longer allowed to compete in any WBC-sanctioned events, both boxing and non-boxing. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman took a firm stance following Garcia’s recent online meltdown, which included racist and Islamophobic remarks directed at African-Americans and Muslims.

“Using my authority as president of the WBC, I hereby bar Ryan Garcia from any activity within our organization,” Sulaiman said Thursday via social media. “We reject any form of discrimination.

“I’m afraid of [Ryan’s] well-being, as he has repeatedly rejected our attempts to get lend a hand for his mental health and substance abuse issues.”

The reaction came hours after Garcia (24-1, 20 knockouts, 1 win) spent much of the July 4 holiday spewing hate.

“I hate n***as, I’m anti-black, I’m KKK,” Garcia insisted during a live performance at X Space. “Yo, let’s go bring George Floyd back to life and kill that n***a again.”

George Floyd was an African American man murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. The incident sparked riots that began locally and spread across the United States. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter.

The hosted space was where, as Garcia stated in X’s now-deleted post, “Fuck all the niggas and all the muslims.”

Garcia can no longer fight anywhere in the U.S. until next April.

The 25-year-old Victorville, California native tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine during his April 20 fight with Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs; 1 NC) in Brooklyn, Fresh York. Garcia earned a majority decision victory that night, although it was marred by the fact that he was significantly over the 140-pound weight limit. It was changed to a No-Contest following a decision in June.

Golden Boy Promotions, Garcia’s promoter, has yet to comment on the matter. The topic will undoubtedly come up during the events of William Zepeda and Giovanni Cabrera’s fight week. The weigh-ins will take place on the Friday before Saturday’s fight night on DAZN at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Ryan’s parents addressed the matter immediately following Sulaiman’s statement.

“Our son has recently made statements that are not true to his character or the beliefs of our family,” Henry and Lisa Garcia said in a joint statement released by WBC. “Our family unequivocally does not support any of his statements regarding race or religion—they do not reflect who Ryan is or how he was raised.

“Those who know Ryan can attest to this fact. Ryan has been open about his ongoing struggle with mental health over the years and as a family we are committed to ensuring and supporting him to receive the lend a hand he needs to navigate this very tough time and address both his immediate and long-term well-being. We appreciate your continued support, prayers and compassion.”

The request for lend a hand was met with a mix of sympathy and acceptance. Henry Garcia was criticized by Haney during a March 1 press conference after repeatedly calling Bill Haney, Devin’s father, trainer and manager, a “dumb son of a bitch.”

Henry Garcia also asked his son for lend a hand with alcohol abuse, recent interview with Fight Hub TV.

Ryan downplayed the gesture, claiming he had already stopped drinking.

Garcia can no longer fight anywhere in the U.S. until next April.

The 25-year-old Victorville, California native tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine during his April 20 fight with Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs; 1 ND) in Brooklyn, Fresh York. Garcia was declared the winner by a majority decision that night, although it meant he fell far brief of the 140-pound weight limit.

At this point, Garcia began exhibiting disturbing behavior, raising concerns about whether the DAZN Pay-Per-View event would go ahead.

Things got much worse after multiple positive drug test results were revealed, at which point Garcia sank even deeper. He has since fired his longtime aide, Guadalupe “Lupe” Valencia. Garcia called the high-profile attorney “Al Haymon’s puppet” during interview with FightHype.com.

In early June, a settlement was reached with the Fresh York State Athletic Commission after Garcia unsuccessfully argued that contamination was the cause of the Ostarine in his system. In fact, his efforts to prove it only raised more questions about whether the opened containers of supplements had been tampered with before being sent to the lab. Under the agreement, Garcia was suspended for a year from his April 20 fight, fined $10,000 and forced to forfeit his contracted purse of $1.1 million.

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“We reject any form of discrimination.” Mauricio Sulaiman drops Ryan Garcia from WBC

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By: Sean Crose

“Using my authority as president of the WBC,” World Boxing Council chief Mauricio Sulaiman wrote on social media Thursday evening, “I hereby bar Ryan Garcia from all activity in our organization.” Garcia, a fighter now known for being controversial as well as processing lightning-fast power, reportedly erupted on social media in a tirade that included offensive language toward both blacks and Muslims. “We reject any form of discrimination,” Sulaiman continued. “I am concerned for Ryan’s health as he has repeatedly rejected our attempts to lend a hand him with his mental health and substance abuse.”

Thursday’s Fourth of July fireworks were the latest in a long line of shocking incidents involving the boxer known as “King Ry.” The 25-year-old frequently posts on social media that can often be perceived as odd or offensive. His April win over Devin Haney was ruled a no contest after Garcia was found to have traces of a performance-enhancing drug in his system. Garcia was recently arrested for vandalism in his native California.

Garcia’s behavior became so alarming that his parents themselves addressed the public on Thursday.

“Our son has recently made statements that are not true to his character or beliefs, nor to the true character of our family,” the statement reads. “Our family unequivocally does not support any of his statements regarding race or religion — they do not reflect who Ryan is or how he was raised. Those who know Ryan can attest to this fact. Ryan has been open about his ongoing struggle with mental health over the years, and as a family, we are committed to ensuring and supporting him to receive the lend a hand he needs to cope with this very challenging time and address both his immediate and long-term well-being. We appreciate your continued support, prayers, and compassion.”

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Jack Catterall is compact on time but remains an undisputed target

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Jack Catterall’s trainer Jamie Moore has admitted his junior welterweight fighter’s days are numbered ahead of his fight with Regis Prograis, but he still has a chance to become undisputed champion.

Catterall enters the Prograis fight without a single belt on the line, but is unlucky not to have all four. He could have gotten revenge on Josh Taylor in May, but that win didn’t secure any of the titles he should have been chasing in 2022.

However, with the current 140-pound landscape changing due to Ryan Garcia’s doping ban, Devin Haney’s year-long absence and Teofimo Lopez’s potential move to welterweight, Catterall’s trainer Moore believes the stars could align for his man to claim the belts he was wrongly denied.

“Eddie” [Hearn] he promised Jack [Catterall] after that, Moore told BoxingScene. “I have no doubt he’ll do it, whether it’s a vacancy, because Haney and Lopez might be vacant. Paro’s with Eddie, so it seems like a pretty uncomplicated fight to make.

“Becoming an undisputed champion is so demanding, and two and a half years ago that was taken away from Jack. Nobody ever expects him to get a second chance, with the way it’s opening up now, you never know. In the next 12 months it could actually work out that he gets options, if he can get in there and win a world title, to start getting involved in unifications. It could come full circle and he could get a chance to be an undisputed champion.”

Catterall has spent most of his career fighting to make the 140-pound limit. Moore has hinted at a possible move up to welterweight with the goal of becoming a two-weight world champion. But that’s all in the future.

“The main goal has to be for Jack to win a world title,” Moore continued. “If and when he does that, he can try unification, try to become undisputed again. If that’s not an option, I think we should consider moving up to 147 and moving on to pastures modern.

“He’s stocky and it’s tough for him to make weight, no matter how you look at it. I’d say the maximum he has is three fights at 140 pounds. I imagine that’s when it’s time to move up before it’s too delayed.” [We’d want] “Anyone who has the belts at 147 pounds, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we’re just focusing on 140 pounds.”

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