Following Teofimo Lopez’s unanimous decision victory over Steve Claggett over the weekend, Chris Algieri puts on his analyst hat, breaks down the performance and explains why Lopez should probably stay at 140 pounds instead of moving up to welterweight. Below are some of Algieri’s thoughts.
Algieri on his reaction to Lopez’s victory over Claggett
“Listen, Claggett had a lot of will, he was in great shape, he grew a huge beard and he took really good body photos. Teofimo impressed me with his work, he was obviously conditioned. He knew what he had in front of him – so did I, I actually predicted the decision, I know a lot of people predicted a knockout.
I think it was very critical for him to make a statement with the knockout, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. Claggett had a tough game, but it just wasn’t an effective performance. (Claggett) imposed his will but was not effective.
About Lopez’s performance and his path forward
“He’s talking about moving up to 147 pounds, which I don’t really recommend. He didn’t show the same strength he had in 1935 at 140 pounds, so now he’s 5-0 at 140 pounds, with only one KO and that was against Pedro Campa early on. Still, it was more of an exhaustion than a single shot. So I think he has a chance to unite. I favor him over all the other champions in this weight class, so I think it would be a good idea for him to win some belts.”
About Claggett showing stamina in battle
“His chin was great and he didn’t really show much wear until the later rounds when his nose started bleeding and he wobbled a few times. I think he got injured more often than we were able to see because he hid it well, but he did really well, he has a lot of experience.
On whether Lopez will have to change his style if he wants to compete at 147 pounds
“Absolutely. Not only are the guys going to be bigger, but he’s going to have to go 12 rounds every time, and you don’t want those large guys beating you up. If you can find a guy who’s 147 years ancient and doing what Steve Claggett did, that’s going to be a very, very challenging evening for Teofimo Lopez.
“But we saw he has fitness, he landed almost a thousand punches tonight and he has a career high in punches thrown and punches landed. So there could potentially be a different style and he has shown that he has the fitness even though he is an explosive guy.”